President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has said that the West Africa Power Pool, WAAP, has the capacity and capabilities to create a regional electricity market for the sub-region. Akufo-Addo made the comment while speaking at the recently held 12th General Assembly of the West African Power Pool (WAPP) in Accra, Ghana, with the theme Regional Electricity Market: Ensuring African Integration.

The President said West Africa needs to realign its energy system to achieve a unified system.

“WAPP has what it takes in terms of capacity and capability to create the regional electricity market. This is the surest way to harness the abundant energy resources of the region to accelerate the social economic development of the region and improve the living standards of our people,” exclaimed Akufo-Addo.

He added: “We must travel all down on this road. Alongside the risk, this is a moment of great opportunity for WAPP and West Africa”.

The President further emphasised that the production and delivery of stable, reliable and affordable power is critical to the integration and development of West Africa.

He was quoted saying the annual growth in demand for electricity is estimated at 10 per cent which means that for every seven years, investment in electricity infrastructure has to be doubled in most West African countries.

Akufo-Addo also called for attention to be paid to women in the energy sector. “I must, as the 2017 African Union gender champion ask this meeting to accord particular attention to the needs of women in the energy sector,” he said.

He continued: “Especially in terms of health, education and economic empowerment through the availability of energy resources. For example, along the electricity supply value chain there are opportunities for directly employing women in the electricity sector, for installation and maintenance, for distribution of bills and collections. Each expert of the sector has a particular value proposition for women.