The project to improve the governance of the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector in West Africa aims to help support member countries through activities at the regional and regional level.
According to the coordinator of the private sector support fund in the ECOWAS Renewable Energy Center, Cire Diallo, the project provides technical assistance for initiatives to improve access to modern energy and promote renewable energy. Public and private actors from the 15 ECOWAS countries and Mauritania. “He is contributing to the West Africa Clean Energy Corridor initiative, through support for the development of strategies for solar energy, wind and hydroelectric power, and their implementation,” he says. And to increase: “the widespread use of substandard products harms the renewable energy market in the sub-region.”
In this sense, the coordinator of the private sector support fund in the renewable energy center of ECOWAS argues that pilot tests have been carried out in Senegal, with the Polytechnic School, and in Ghana. “This meeting allows us to see what lessons have been learned from this test to organize better the scaling up of the program to reach the 15 countries of Africa. It is a question of evaluating this program to detect the shortcomings,” he says.
From the perspectives, it is planned the establishment of a technical committee in charge of the issue, with the role of coordinating activities of this program which aims to professionalize the actors of the sector of renewable energies. A certification that can serve as a label for customers. Mr. Diallo points out, however, that there are challenges to be met because many technicians who make solar installations do not have the necessary skills. “It only takes a few moments for the installed devices to no longer work. It’s not a problem of technology, but skills. And if this happens on an ongoing basis, consumers will no longer want to use renewable energy. It requires a network of professionals who have a certificate by a test, with a professional card that will reassure users,” he says. There are currently 23 certified professionals, including 20 in Senegal.
