WAPP Marks 20 Years of Regional Power Cooperation, Lists Milestones

Stories by Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja 

The West African Power Pool (WAPP) has celebrated the 20th anniversary of the signing of its Convention, marking two decades of efforts to integrate electricity systems and promote regional power trade across West Africa.

The Convention, signed on July 6, 2006, by the organisation’s founding member utilities, established the institutional framework for energy cooperation and the development of a regional electricity market within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

In a statement reflecting on the organisation’s journey, WAPP highlighted major milestones that have shaped the evolution of the West African Regional Electricity Market over the past two decades.

Among the achievements was the launch of the first phase of the regional electricity market on June 29, 2018, which enabled bilateral electricity trading between neighbouring countries and laid the foundation for a more integrated regional market.

The organisation also identified the inauguration of its Information and Coordination Centre in November 2023 as a significant step towards improving the coordination and reliability of operations across the interconnected regional power system.

WAPP further noted that important regulatory and institutional milestones had been achieved in collaboration with its partners. These include the approval of the Regional Market Rules and Procedures in November 2025 and the adoption of the methodology and calculation model for the Regional Transmission Tariff in March 2026.