The World Bank, in collaboration with the Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), is financing a training workshop for SMEs in the renewable energy sector across nineteen countries in Africa and seven other Sahelian countries.
The Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) training workshop, which has the theme “Building Sustainable Business in Off-Grid Solar PV Sector,” is aimed at increasing electricity access in the ECOWAS and Sahel region.
The Commissioner for Internal Services, ECOWAS Commission, Prof. Nazifi Darma, says the aim of the training is to raise businesses that have the capacity to increase electricity in most parts of Africa.
He said that young Africans have a role to play in developing businesses that will lead to the prosperity of the continent.
He noted that there are over thirty-two billion small and medium-scale businesses in Nigeria alone.
Prof. Darma also said that when energy is cheap, products and services will also be cheap.
“All of us know that the cost of energy occupies a disproportionate component of the cost of operation in any business. So, where energy is cheap, business operations become cheaper, the products and services become more affordable and livelihood, profit and expansion become more guaranteed,“ Prof. Darma said.
He encouraged the participants to think about how they would move the continent forward through their involvement.
Team Lead, Regional ROGEAP Entrepreneurship Support Facility, Salamatu Baba Tunzwang, said that the project aimed to increase sustainable electricity access across nineteen counties in Africa in the ECOWAS block and seven other Sahelian countries.
She said that the programme also aims to support businesses.
“We want to build a sustainable ecosystem for solar PV businesses and by doing so, support them in terms of information exchange and access to finance. We have brands under this programme and we also provide technical support to private businesses under this project,” she said.
She also said that the workshop is to build the capacity of small businesses in the area of off-grid solar and business management and help businesses network.
She noted that the participants were carefully selected for the project to go through the capacity-building programme.
The project is held in partnership with Evobank.
The Divisional Head, Federal Capital Territory and North, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Tunde Dawodu, promised participants that the training will impact positively on small businesses and the economy in general.
He says his organisation has always been at the forefront of supporting SMEs and solar energy technology.
Mr. Dawodu also said that the SMEs control the economy and deserve to be supported through grants.
“At the end of this three-day training, the organisers would assess the viability of their projects, the viability of their models working with the technical team and those who do qualify will have access to the grant to enhance their growth and expansion,“ Mr. Dawodu said.
On his part, Senior Adviser ROGEAP, Mr. Elhadji Sylla, said that the three-day training workshop is to strengthen the capacity of SMEs.
He said that the training is not limited to only Nigeria but across Africa.
He added that the Regional Off-Grid Electricity Access Project (ROGEAP) for SMEs in Nigeria will also be held in Lagos and other African countries.
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