| The Transition to Efficient Lighting in West Africa
 Government representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) successfully established a regionally coordinated framework to transition to energy efficient lighting at a workshop held in Dakar, Senegal in early July. The Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Republic of Senegal agreed to sponsor all events related to the initiative to rally other ECOWAS member states.
The workshop raised awareness and built consensus on the various technical options available at regional and international levels for the development of a concrete regional efficient lighting strategy. Addressing gender issues was also on the agenda, as women are both the proponents and beneficiaries of positive changes in the energy sector. The regional transition to efficient lighting will follow an integrated approach which includes minimum energy performance standards; quality control programs; policy frameworks and finance mechanisms; and, environmentally sound management practices, including collection and recycling of spent lamps.
The en.lighten initiative has designated ECOWAS as a pilot region within the Global Efficient Lighting Partnership Programme. A transition away from general service incandescent lamps to more efficient lighting would save the region an estimated US$ 220 million each year in energy costs. West African nations together could save a total of 2.4 terawatt hours of electricity, which is equivalent 6.7% of the total yearly energy consumption. The savings would be enough to power over 1.2 million households.
ECREEE, as the leading organization in the field of renewable energy and energy efficiency in West Africa, launched the initiative on energy efficient lighting, as one of its priority programs as part of the ECOWAS Policy on Energy Efficiency adopted in Accra, Ghana in October 2012. The use of energy was identified as a fundamental component of achieving the UN Secretary-General’s "Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL)" objectives in the ECOWAS region.
The meeting in Dakar follows a launch workshop held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso earlier this year in order to develop a comprehensive regional efficient lighting strategy. The initiative is being supported by the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA), the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and private sector partners, Philips and Osram, who will provide technical support in the development of the regional strategy.
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