A $225m push to bring power to two million West Africans nears its finish line
The $225m ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project has strung thousands of kilometres of lines across The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali. Teams met in Banjul to record what worked before it closes in December.
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Banjul — The first project of West Africa's regional programme to widen electricity access, including across borders, is drawing to a close, and the people who built it are writing down what they learned, ECOWAS said.
The ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project (ECOWAS-REAP), which began in 2019, covers The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Mali and was designed to bring reliable electricity, including cross-border supply, to about 2.04 million people. It is backed by $225 million in concessional financing from the World Bank's International Development Association and closes on 31 December 2026.
What has been built
- About 3,900 km of 33 kV medium-voltage lines
- 1,060 transformer substations
- About 3,700 km of low-voltage lines
- Connection equipment for homes and businesses, including prepaid or smart meters
Learning before closing
From 12 to 16 October, teams from the ECOWAS energy directorate, the regional coordination unit, The Gambia's national water and electricity company and the World Bank met in Banjul for a "Lessons and Results Note" mission, reviewing procurement, finance, safeguards and operations.
The World Bank's task team leader, Elise Akitani, said the exercise would capture good practice for future projects. ECOWAS's director of energy and mines, Arkadius Koumoin, said the experience would shape the next projects in the Regional Electricity Access Programme, which ECOWAS plans as a series across eleven countries under its Vision 2050 for energy. Haddy Njie, who coordinates the project in The Gambia, said the financing had made a tangible difference to Gambians.
Source: ECOWAS Commission, 16 October 2026.
