On November 27, 2017, various renewable energy stakeholders from private sector, public sector and donors gathered in Bella Casa hotel in Monrovia for the national workshop of the Regional Off-Grid Electrification Project (ROGEP).

The World Bank and Ecowas Centre for reneable energy and energy efficiency (ECREEE) have designed this project to increase access to sustainable electricity services in the ECOWAS region and 4 Sahel countries for households, commercial enterprises and public facilities.

The project is funded by the World Bank and framed in the ECOWAS Program on Access to Sustainable Electricity Services (EPASES), directly contributing to the goals of the ECOWAS Regional Renewable Energy Policy (EREP) with a target to provide universal access to electricity to the region by 2030. The preparatory phase of the project has started in July 2017 and will last to July 2018. The following implementation phase is expected to last until 2022.  

ROGEP comprises of three components: Technical Assistance activities to improve off-grid market ecosystem; Enabling loans for service providers to electrify households and enterprises; Support for service providers to electrify public institutions. The focus is on off-grid solutions, thus excluding mini-grids.

In the national workshop, various stakeholders learned about ROGEP and discussed the current situation in Liberia and ways forward for renewable off-grid solutions in Liberia. Opportunities and challenges were shared between representatives from financial institutions and renewable energy businesses and consultants, as well as government agencies and donor representatives.