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The Department of Energy is a constituent part of the
Commission for Infrastructure, approved in a far-reaching
restructuring of large parts of the ECOWAS Community by the
Authority of Heads of State and Government in January 2006
and becomes effective from January 2007. Under the
restructuring exercise, the former Executive Secretariat,
was converted and expanded into a high-level Commission with
9 Commissioners led by a President, and 25 Directorates.
Commissioners were given an expanded political profile and
the number of Directorates was expanded from 16 to 25. The
Department of Energy is a new entity that, in the former
Executive Secretariat, was a part of the former Department
of Infrastructure and Industry, now split into three
separate Departments.
The Department of Energy is responsible within the
Commission for providing the technical expertise in Energy
and for the design and implementation of technical projects
for the region decided by the President.(Attached is the
Organisational Chart for the Department.
The department’s functions as enshrined in Article 28, Item
1 & 2 of the Revised ECOWAS Treaty is to ensure coordination
and harmonization of Member States policies and programmes
in the field of energy, and, to this end:
i) Ensure
the effective development of the regions energy resources
ii) stablish
appropriate cooperation mechanisms with a view to ensuring a
regular supply of hydrocarbons.
iii) Promote
the development of new and renewable energy, particularly
solar energy, in the framework of the policy of
diversification of sources of energy
iv) Harmonise
national energy development plans by ensuring particularly,
the interconnection of electricity networks;
v) Articulate
a common energy policy, particularly, in the field of
research, exploitation, production and distribution
vi) Establish
an adequate mechanism for the collective solution of the
energy development problems within the Community,
particularly those relating to:
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Energy Exchanges among Member States
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Shortages of skilled technicians, and
Financial resources for the implementation of energy
projects of Member States |
