The ECOWAS Commissioner for Energy and Mines, Dr. Morlaye Bangoura, has invited participants at the meeting for the validation of the final report of the feasibility study on the West African Gas Pipeline extension, to analyse and amend the said report in order to produce a satisfactory report on all counts.

The meeting, which commenced on Wednesday the 1^st of March 2017 at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja Nigeria, is aimed at analysing the final report of the study ahead of its validation, and formulating an action plan for its implementation.

It intends to collate the observations and recommendations of participants on certain aspects, including the pipeline network’s route plan for connecting the other Member States, the network’s features and the cost of the project as well as the price of gas delivered.

The participants would also be required to state actions to be carried out at each stage of the project, including deadlines, task delegation and potential costs.

It was in April 2015, at the recommendation of West African leaders, that the ECOWAS Commission commenced a feasibility study for the extension of the West African gas pipeline.

Dr. Bangoura opined that the study will make it possible for Member States non-party to the Gas Pipeline Treaty to benefit from this clean and inexpensive energy source and help create an energy market in the region.

“Energy is at the heart of all economic development strategies the world over, and the use of natural gas is a worthwhile alternative for our sub region, coupled with hydropower and renewable energy such as solar and wind”, he stated.

He therefore expressed delight at the interest demonstrated by all ECOWAS Member States, the regional institutions in charge of energy and the financial institutions, during the conduct of the study.

For organisers of the meeting, the study is justified by the widely-expressed demand of the region for the use of natural gas in electricity generation, as well as the need to find sustainable solutions to the current challenges facing the existing gas pipeline.

As such, in 2016 several regional workshops were organised with a view to validating the different reports of the study. The one organized in Dakar Senegal in September made it possible to consider the provisional report of the study.

The ongoing meeting will serve to endorse the routes proposed by the consultant in line with the phasing of the project, the volume of gas to be transported, while formulating an action plan for the project’s course.

Commissioner Bangoura considers the meeting as a forum where the technical opinion of participants will be collated and inputted on the report of the study ahead of its final validation, and an action plan proposed for next steps in the project’s implementation.