WAPP To Create Revolving Fund for ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market

The board of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) is planning to create a Liquidity Enhancement Revolving Fund (LERF) for the ECOWAS regional electricity market, following the parlous situation of electricity supply in West Africa.

Chairman, Executive Board of WAPP, Dr Sule Ahmed Abdulaziz, disclosed this during the 54th meeting of the Executive Board Meeting in Cotonou, Benin Republic, stressing that the fund would reduce the level of outstanding bills, thereby providing stakeholders in the trade with a high degree of robustness.

“The creation of this fund will provide the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Market with a very important tool for electricity trading by reducing the level of outstanding bills, thereby providing stakeholders in the trade with a high degree of robustness and sustainability,” he said.

Abdulaziz urged the participants to examine the documents carefully and make relevant comments on the documents proposed by the WAPP Finance Committee.

The WAPP Chairman also commended the well-documented 2021 financial statement of the organisation. saying: “When I look at the financial statement, I get the feeling that the WAPP is working hard and is quite transparent as shown by the independent audit. This attests that the financial statements are regular, sincere and in accordance with international standards”

Earlier, the Secretary General of the WAPP Executive Board, Siengui Ki Apollinaire, highlighted that the latest financial statements were declared transparent.

“The 2021 Budget was executed transparently and rigorously, and it is with pleasure that I announce that the 2021 consolidated financial statements of our organisation have been declared regular, sincere, and compliant with international standards by a well-known independent auditor” Ki Apollinaire explained.

In a statement, Ki Apollinaire expressed gratitude to the president of the Republic of Benin, Mr Patrice Talon for the hospitality extended to the organisation and for hosting the meeting.

The participants also observed a minute’s silence for the late Dr Joseph Makoju, an honorary member from Nigeria who passed on in April this year, for his contributions to the development of WAPP.

WAPP is the association of public and private power entities. It is a specialised agency of ECOWAS. It covers 14 of the 15 countries of the regional economic community (Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo).