Guinea Bissau /
West african ministers of energy to meet in Bissau
BISSAU, Guinea Bissau, August 26, 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — A one-day meeting of Ministers of Energy from the 15 Member States of ECOWAS and UEMOA (Monetary and Economic Union of West Africa) will take place on 29th August 2008 in Bissau, the capital of Guinea Bissau.
The meeting is part of the fulfillment of a 2008 mid-year ECOWAS Heads of State summit decision to intensify efforts at the development of infrastructure to accelerate regional integration. The summit had designated Presidents Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea Bissau and Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire to coordinate the efforts of both the ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions in the energy and transport sectors, respectively.
The ministers will consider reports on energy relating to a common action plan on emergency power supply in West Africa, the establishment of the proposed Regional Regulatory Body for the Electricity Sector and the implementation of the White Paper on Access to Energy Services for Rural and Peri-rural Populations in the region.
The reports will emanate from a preceding two-day meeting of energy experts which will begin on Wednesday, 27th August 2008, also in Bissau. The meeting of experts, composed of representatives of the Ministries of Energy in Member States (chairpersons of the National Multisectoral Committees) as well as national electricity regulators, will consider the status of implementation of programmes and projects of the two Commissions.
These will include the Regional Policy on Energy Access Project and the Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, the West African Gas Pipeline Project (WAGP), the West Africa Power Pool Programme (WAPP) and the West African Regional Regulation Programme.
SOURCE : Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS)
