The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) has approved a technical assistance grant of $2 million to fund research. That will contribute to electricity reforms across members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including Nigeria.
ADF, a concessional finance window of the African Development Bank (AfDB), set them up to support economic and social development in 38 least developed countries on the continent. Also, it provides concessional funding for projects and technical help for reach and capacity-building.
However, the project anchors on five components, starting from selecting electricity regulatory principles. And the key performance indicators from ADF’s Electricity Regulatory Index for Africa report adopted by the ECOWAS Regional.
Therein, the second component will involve conducting a study to update a comparative analysis of electricity tariffs. And also, their underlying drivers across the value chain of ECOWAS. Thereafter, the next phase involves developing a centralised database management system that will provide a platform. Although this is for collecting relevant energy data from member countries, storing and disseminating the information on a common digital platform.
The fourth component has to do with assessing and identifying project bottlenecks and risks in ECOWAS member countries. And also recommends a coherent approach to address barriers to investment in the power sector. The last component focuses on program management and capacity building. Therefore, is co-financed with the Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority.
-Guardian.