The ECOWAS Regional Electricity Access Project began a five-day Lessons and Result Note mission in Banjul, The Gambia, from October 12 to 16, 2026, as the regional electricity programme moves toward closure at the end of the year.
The mission was organised by the World Bank and brings together the ECOWAS Directorate of Energy and Mines, the ECOWAS-REAP Regional Coordination Unit, The Gambia’s National Project Implementation Unit under the National Water and Electricity Company, and the World Bank, which funds the project.
Opening the session, the World Bank’s project Task Team Leader, Elise Akitani, described the exercise as a chance to assess how the project was implemented, capture good practices and lessons learned, and examine which strategies worked and which areas need improvement.
She said the process would provide a deliberate platform for institutional learning and support the design and implementation of future projects.
Arkadius Koumoin, Director of Energy and Mines at the ECOWAS Commission, said the mission aims to draw on the experience gained through ECOWAS-REAP to refine implementation approaches and strengthen delivery of other ongoing projects and the formulation of future ones under the programme.
Haddy Njie, Project Coordinator of The Gambia’s PIU, thanked the World Bank for its continued support in ensuring the project’s smooth implementation and for the financing allocated to it, which she said had translated into tangible impact for the Gambian population.
Project teams covering procurement, financial management, environmental and social safeguards, monitoring and evaluation, and operations presented updates on implementation progress, infrastructure installation and operational status.
Discussions also covered challenges and bottlenecks encountered during implementation, key lessons learned, and recommendations to guide other ongoing and future projects.
ECOWAS-REAP is the first project under the Regional Electricity Access Programme, which the ECOWAS Commission initiated with World Bank support and which is being implemented as a series of projects across eleven countries, including nine ECOWAS member states.
The programme sits within a set of structural actions the commission has pursued through its Directorate of Energy and Mines since 2019 toward its Vision 2050 for the energy sector.
ECOWAS-REAP itself kicked off in 2019 and covers The Gambia, Guinea Bissau and Mali.
Its stated objective is to increase access to reliable energy services and enable cross-border electrification in the beneficiary countries, with 2.04 million people expected to benefit from electricity services.
The project is backed by US$225 million in concessional financing from the World Bank’s International Development Association.
Its infrastructure outputs include the construction of approximately 3,900 kilometres of medium-voltage 33 kV lines, the installation of 1,060 transformer substations at 33 kV/400 V, and the deployment of 3,700 kilometres of low-voltage 400 V networks.
The project also provides for the supply and installation of electricity connection equipment, including service connections, prepaid or smart meters and associated components.
The project is scheduled to close on December 31, 2026. The LeaRN mission forms part of that closure process, consolidating implementation experience, capturing good practices and developing practical recommendations to inform subsequent projects under the Regional Electricity Access Programme.
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