Africa
AS part of the implementation of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project, ROGEAP, ECOWAS organized a meeting of the Ministers of Industry of its Member States in Banjul, The Gambia, on Thursday 30 March 2023.
The objective of this meeting was to validate a series of quality standards for the harmonization of electrotechnical standards in West Africa.
This meeting of Ministers followed the meeting of Experts in charge of quality, energy and industry which was held from 27 to 30 March 2023, also in Banjul, to discuss and pre-validate the report of the last ECOSHAM Technical Management Committee, TMC, on standards. After validation in Banjul, these standards will be proposed to the ECOWAS Council of Ministers for adoption.
This meeting of Ministers was jointly organized by the ROGEAP Project, the Industry Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission and the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, ECREEE.
The meeting was officially opened by H.E. Mr. Augusto POQUENA, Minister of Energy and Industry of Guinea Bissau, President of the Council of Ministers of Industry and Energy of ECOWAS Member States and Commissioner Massandje LITSE-TOURE in charge of Economic Affairs and Agriculture of ECOWAS, in the presence of other Ministers and Experts from Member States and the ECOWAS Commission, and the Representative of the World Bank in The Gambia.
In his welcoming remarks, Baboucarr JOOF, Minister of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment of the Republic of The Gambia, stressed the importance that ECOWAS attaches to the industrial sector in West Africa and the commitment of the ECOWAS Commission to develop important economic, industrial, trade and investment policies that are expected to create an enabling environment for private sector development.
The representative of the World Bank then spoke about the objectives of her institution in financing the implementation of ROGEAP in the 19 countries of West and Central Africa, which are, among others, to promote access to electricity for all by using modern and autonomous solar technology through a harmonized regional approach.
Speaking on behalf of the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Commissioner Massandje LITSE-TOURE said that the adoption of technical standards and regulations will strengthen the quality infrastructure system in the sub-region and create a favorable environment for the economic and social development of ECOWAS Member States.
During this meeting of Ministers, a series of standards will be validated. These include 6 standards including IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and ECOS-TANDS standards on off-grid and mini-grid solar photovoltaic products, 5 ECOS-TANDS standards on agricultural products, 14 ECOSTAND standards on agri-food products, 7 ECOSTANDS standards on information, communication and technology products, 6 ECOSTAND standards on chemical products and 1 regulation on lead content in paint.
The participants in this meeting are specialists from the ECOWAS Standards Harmonization Model, ECOSHAM, the Regional Technical Committee on Standards and Labelling, the ECOSHAM Technical Harmonization Committee, THC5, ECOSHAM Technical Management Committee, TMC, ECOWAS Commission, ROGEAP, ECREEE, VERASOL, as well as Experts and Ministers of ECOWAS Member States responsible for quality and/or energy management (Ministers of Industry).
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Tags: ECOWAS H.E. Mr. Augusto POQUENA ROGEAP
