Following the adoption of the standards on stand-alone solar systems by the ECOWAS Ministers of Industry on Thursday, March 30, 2023 in Banjul, The Gambia and as a prelude to the three (3) regional capacity building workshops on quality assurance of off-grid solar photovoltaic products, the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) is building the capacity of its dedicated team from April 24 to 28, 2023 in Lagos, Nigeria within the framework of the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) implemented by the Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalization Department of the ECOWAS Commission.

The main objective of these capacity building activities is to support a sustainable harmonized quality assurance framework for off-grid solar products up to 350 Watts and their testing methods for the ECOWAS region and other countries concerned, namely Cameroon, Mauritania, Central African Republic and Chad.

The three (3) regional workshops will take place respectively from May 3 to 6 in Niamey, Niger, from May 9 to 11 in Accra, Ghana and from May 16 to 19, 2023 in Lome, Togo. These activities will be implemented by experts from ECREEE, VeraSol and the ROGEAP project unit for the benefit of agents of rural electrification agencies, ministries of energy and standardization bodies of ECOWAS member states and the four other countries involved.

ROGEAP is a project that aims to increase access to sustainable electricity services for households, commercial enterprises, public health, education and community infrastructure through solar isolated systems in the fifteen ECOWAS Member States and four additional countries (Mauritania, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Chad). With a total budget of US$338.7 million. This initiative is financed by the World Bank, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) and the Dutch Cooperation (DGIS).