West Africa Regional Electricity Market Records Early Successes as Cross-Border Power Trade Grows
West Africa’s regional electricity market is beginning to deliver tangible benefits, with cross-border power trading helping utilities reduce generation costs, improve financial performance and strengthen energy security.
Operated through the West African Power Pool (WAPP), the regional market is designed to enable countries to share electricity more efficiently by drawing on their different energy resources.
The Gambia has emerged as an early success story. National utility NAWEC reportedly reduced its electricity costs by about 42% by increasing its use of hydropower supplied from Guinea, reducing its reliance on expensive imported fuel.
Guinea-Bissau has also recorded significant gains, with its national utility EAGB moving from a monthly deficit of around US$1 million to a positive financial position.
These improvements demonstrate the potential of regional electricity trading to reduce costs for countries that depend heavily on fuel-based generation.
Expanding regional infrastructure
The market is supported by growing investment in transmission infrastructure. By late 2023, all 14 continental ECOWAS countries had been interconnected through the regional transmission system.
Major interconnection projects include the approximately 1,677-kilometre network linking Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Senegal and The Gambia, as well as the 1,303-kilometre transmission line connecting Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
These investments have also helped expand electricity access, with more than three million people in six West African countries gaining access to electricity between 2019 and 2025 through associated transmission and distribution projects.
Billions needed for expansion
Despite the progress, significant investment will be required to meet rising electricity demand. The regional master plan identifies 75 priority projects requiring approximately US$36.39 billion.
The pipeline includes 28 transmission projects covering about 22,932 kilometres and 47 generation projects representing around 15.49 GW of additional capacity.
Electricity demand across ECOWAS is expected to grow by more than 8% annually, increasing pressure to develop new generation and transmission capacity.
The regional market could also support greater renewable energy integration by allowing surplus electricity from hydropower and other renewable projects to be exported to neighbouring countries.
West Africa’s electricity market remains a work in progress, but the early results indicate that deeper regional integration can lower costs, improve utility finances and strengthen energy security.
Continued investment in generation, transmission and market infrastructure will be critical to turning these early gains into a sustainable regional power system.