The Diplomat
The Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) received this week the Best Partners award in recognition of its support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE, based in Cape Verde).
The award was collected last Tuesday by the Spanish Cooperation delegation that, led by the Spanish Ambassador to Nigeria and for ECOWAS, Juan Ignacio Sell, participated in the ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF 2022), held this week in Abuja (Nigeria). Sell, who also represented the European Union delegation in Nigeria during the meeting, reiterated the commitment of Spain and the EU, together with ECOWAS, in favor of the energy transition.
The ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum, held on Monday and Tuesday, brought together key players in the sustainable energy sector in West Africa: governments, donors, companies and other relevant groups discussed the acceleration of the energy transition process in the region. AECID’s representation in this forum was led by the Ambassador and the Coordinator of Spanish Cooperation in Nigeria and for ECOWAS, Raquel Ferrando Sellers.
In addition, Raquel Ferrando Sellers was one of the experts invited to the panel on Gender Mainstreaming in Sustainable Energy in ECOWAS, in which she reiterated the interest of the Spanish Cooperation to create more opportunities for women in West Africa in this growing sector and informed that 500 companies led by women and young people will be direct beneficiaries of the Regional Pilot Project on Circular Economy. This project, which will be implemented in close collaboration with ECREE in Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Senegal, will also improve the living conditions of 3,500 women and youth in the region.
According to AECID, Spanish Cooperation has been supporting the development of renewable energies in West Africa since 2005 through its collaboration with ECREEE. In addition, the Agency finances two large-scale projects. On the one hand, the Energy and Water for Agriculture project in Cape Verde, Gambia and Guinea Bissau, which aims to provide solar-powered water pumps to facilitate irrigation in the selected countries and the installation of clean cookstoves in schools; and, on the other, the pilot project on circular economy involving Benin, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Senegal in the optimization of value chains in crop production, livestock and fisheries to improve the economic situation of those working in these sectors.
