Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo, current President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and his Nigerien counterpart Mohamed Bazoum have launched work on the “North Dorsal” electrical interconnection project. The project must connect, in addition to Niger, three countries of the sub-region, namely Benin, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

The electricity interconnection of the ECOWAS countries is one of the flagship integration projects piloted by the organization. Initiated since 2019, the project is co-financed in particular by the AfDB and the World Bank and consists of a 330 KV line 875 km long and will connect the Nigerian transformer station of Birnin Kebbi to that of Ouagadougou East, passing through two stations in Niger (Zabori and Gorou banda) and a ramp connecting Zabori to the Malanville transformer station (Benin).

It will facilitate electricity trade in the sub-region and strengthen the regional volume of electricity exchanges which is currently low (9%) despite the current interconnection of 9 out of 14 countries.