Luxemburg, 03/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 19 December 2007, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the regional organisation West African Power Pool (WAPP) signed a grant agreement to the value of €3 million. The grant, which is provided under the recently established EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, will fund two pre-investment studies for an electricity interconnection project enabling power exchanges between the Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
The aim of the WAPP is to establish a regional electricity market in West Africa, through the development and realisation of priority infrastructure projects such as this one, to facilitate access to economic energy resources for all members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). As well as promoting regional economic growth, one of the priority objectives of EIB activities in Africa, the planned interconnection between Man (Ivory Coast) - Sannequille (Liberia) - Nzérékore (Guinea) - Buchanan (Liberia) - Monrovia (Liberia) - Bumbuna (Sierra Leone) - Linsan (Guinea) will also be key to reconstruction efforts in the post-conflict countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone and the forest region of Guinea. This grant request for the WAPP studies was jointly submitted under the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund by the EIB and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). The grant will finance a Feasibility Study as well as a Line Survey and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment to ensure the sustainable development of the power interconnection project. The studies will be undertaken by international consulting firms under the close supervision of WAPP. (O.L.)