Praia - Cape Verde — The Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS have endorsed an initiative by President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal that will enable the region harness its solar energy potentials through the construction of solar power plants that will provide cheap energy as a complementary source for meeting West Africa's energy needs.
The endorsement came after a presentation by President Wade to the just- concluded 38th ordinary summit of regional leaders in Sal, Cape Verde in which he cited the abundance of sunshine and possession of the largest desert in the world as justification for West Africa to tap into these virtually free resources to meet its energy needs and ensure they are not wasted. The presentation reiterated the proposal at the Copenhagen World Summit on Climate Change for Africa to commit to solar energy not only because of its availability but also because it is a less expensive source of energy that would help improve the competitiveness of the continent's industries.
The President had explained that such power plants could be constructed without huge budgetary provisions but through 'financial arrangements' to be proposed to regional leaders after on-going studies. In a 'special resolution on solar energy,' released after the summit on 2nd July 2010, the Heads of State and Government acknowledged the potential of this resource in a region where fossil fuel remains the prevalent source of generating energy and mandated President Wade to pursue the proposed solar power plants for the region 'in order to ensure its self-sufficiency in clean and cheap solar energy.' Only 20 per cent of households have access to electricity in West Africa, a region with one of the lowest energy consumption rates in the world and which has only exploited 16 per cent of its 23, 000 MW large scale hydro power potential.
As evidence of support for President Wade's initiative, the regional leaders urged each Member State to attach technical and financial experts to President Wade 'in view of establishing the Commission on solar power that shall operate under his chairmanship and authority.' Furthermore, they urged the States to facilitate President Wade's work by instructing all institutions involved in solar energy in the region to provide him with all the statistical information needed for the successful conclusion of the study. They also decided that the President would work in close collaboration with the ECOWAS Commission which will provide him full support and brief them on the state of the process.
