ECOWAS Experts build capacity on Access to Sustainable Energy for all with Gas

ECREEE, in partnership with the International Gas Union (IGU), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the ECOWAS Commission, and the Société National d’Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d’Ivoire (PEREOCI), organized a two-day training seminar on ‘Access to Sustainable Energy for All with Gas’, in Abidjan, Côte d’Iovire, from 4 -5 November, 2013.

The Seminar was opened by the Minister of Petroleum and Energy of Cote d’Ivoire, Honourable Adama Toungara, with welcome addresses made by Dr  Kandeh Yumkella, Secretary General and CEO of SE4ALL; Mr Dabire Bayaornibè, Director of Energy, ECOWAS Commission; Mr Torstein Indrebo, Secretary General, International Gas Union (IGU); Mr Akmel Akpa, Officer-in-Change, Program Support and General Management, UNIDO.

The seminar brought together over forty (40) people, drawn from the ECOWAS Ministries of Energy and Petroleum Resources, International Oil Companies (IOCs), the private sector and developmental organizations. The training was tailored to benefit both policy makers and business people through presentations on best practices and case studies.

Training topics were delivered by high-level gas experts from IGU, Egypt, Malaysia, Norway and Qatar, and  focused on: building a diversified energy portfolio with gas included; making use of the synergies of renewables and gas; initiating the building of robust infrastructures; using natural gas in the most effective and efficient way and supporting economic development through the use of gas.

The gas training seminar aimed to contribute towards the sustainable energy for all goals in West Africa by increasing knowledge on the necessary conditions and frameworks for the effective harnessing of the region’s vast gas resources for energy development.

 As a result of this training ECOWAS participants gained knowledge on the political and legal framework (including the regulatory system) for the strategic development of the gas sector; the economics benefitting all stakeholders and thus the incentive for gas development based on robust business models; availability of gas resources as a solution to the region’s energy crises; the importance of knowledge transfer in the whole process.

 The event is seen as the first step towards a coordinated regional action on the development of the natural and renewable gas sector in West Africa. It is envisaged that a follow-up training will be organized in 2014.