By Politico Staff Writer
Vice President (VP) Dr. Juldeh Jalloh has called on Member States of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to bring private sector investment into the energy market, which he said has been challenged with a solid infrastructure.
He made this call while addressing members of the Fifth ECOWAS Parliament at a five-day delocalized joint meeting at the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Freetown on the 20th of March 2023.
The theme for the meeting was, “regional energy market and energy transition.”
In his opening statement, the Vice President highlighted the enormous challenges faced by the region in accessing and providing energy, ranging from the need to build on regional energy initiatives to the lack of capital for energy expansion. He noted that the investment required is beyond the reach of certain West African countries.
He encouraged member states to engage bilateral and multilateral institutions for them to undertake investments that will ensure electricity is enjoyed with limited stress.
Dr. Jalloh outlined the ‘binding’ constraints faced by President Julius Maada Bio’s administration in the energy sector after taking office including poor utility governance architecture, limited solar mini-grid, inadequate generation, and transmission, and inadequate infrastructure to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity to communities.
He informed the ECOWAS member states that the Government of Sierra Leone through the Elaborate Strategic Plan has been able to increase energy supply from 16% to 35% across the country. He also noted that they have made energy accessible to 56 towns with renewable solar energy, created new generation outlets, and reduced subsidies on electricity.
VP Jalloh mentioned the expansion of electricity supply in Bo, Kenema, and Kono districts through the Transco CSLG connection and assured that in the coming months, energy access will be above 50% in Sierra Leone. He called on ECOWAS to provide support to countries to enable them to make a radical shift from utility energy to produce energy.
He said the ECOWAS Parliament should see the need to adopt a regional approach with a view to ensuring that the energy sector makes the necessary transition for the prosperity of the region and for ECOWAS to have a successful Vision 2050.
Dr. Juldeh Jalloh went on to say that no country will develop without a solid productive sector.
“A productive sector cannot move an inch without expansive energy access,” he emphasized.
He described the governance architecture as vital to the management of the energy sector by reducing both technical and commercial losses and suggested that the region must create industries and jobs and build the necessary road networks to ensure the transition to a prosperous region.
Copyright © 2023 Politico (22/03/23)
