Business Plan

The ECREEE Business Plan (2011 to 2016) provides a powerful strategic long-term framework which allows continued monitoring of the achievements of the Centre. By mapping out a clear vision, the plan serves to guide the Centre towards a position of relevance and sustainability in the coming years. The strategy includes the definition of objectives and milestones, performance indicators, activities, and human and financial resources requirements. It also highlights the peculiarities and specific challenges facing the region with respect to energy, while presenting the opportunities and barriers for renewable energy and energy efficiency deployment as well as a country-by-country review of the needs, opportunities and key issues within the sector.

The Business Plan includes the following highlights:

ECREEE Governance Structure: ECREEE is a specialized ECOWAS agency with a public mandate to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency markets. It acts as an independent body but within the legal, administrative and financial framework of ECOWAS rules and regulations. The ECREEE Secretariat is based in Praia, Cape Verde, and has established a network of NFIs among all ECOWAS Member States. The Technical Committee (TC) and the Executive Board (EB) are the highest decision-making bodies of the Centre. The official working languages of the Centre are English, French and Portuguese.

Financial Vision: ECREEE is primarily public funded through grants from the ECOWAS Commission and official development aid from donors. By 2020 the Centre will decrease the share of donor grants from 75% to 50% of its annual budget. The share of ECOWAS and voluntary member state contributions should increase from 15% in 2012 to 40% of the annual budget in 2020. Moreover, the Centre aims at mobilizing around 10% of its annual budget through commercial services and investment shares (fee-for-service).

Overall Objective of ECREEE: To contribute to the sustainable economic, social and environmental development of West Africa by improving access to modern, reliable and affordable energy services, energy security and reduction of energy related externalities (GHG, local pollution).

Specific Objective of ECREEE: To create favorable framework conditions for regional RE&EE markets by supporting activities directed to mitigate existing technology, financial, economic, business, legal, policy, institutional, knowledge and capacity related barriers.

ECREEE Value Chain: Under the Business Plan, the Centre will execute numerous activities within the scope of five interrelated result areas. They include policy development, capacity building, knowledge management, awareness raising as well as business and investment promotion. The Business Plan sets measureable performance indicators and targets for each result area (see below).

RESULT AREA 1: Create an effective regional RE&EE promotion agency and ensure financial sustainability

Performance Indicators by 2016

• Achieve 80% expenditure rate and implement 80% of the planned activities in the annual work plans
• Mobilize 25% of the annual budget of ECREEE from ECOWAS sources and 5% from commercial fee-for-service activities in 2016
• Mobilize €13 million funding through direct funding agreements by 2016
• Sign six funding agreements with international donors
• Sign five funding agreements with ECOWAS member states and/or ECOWAS Commission
• Sign 40 cooperation agreements with local and international technical RE&EE partners
• Review and appraise 300 RE&EE project proposals in accordance with the Centre’s quality and appraisal framework
• Prepare, manage and conclude 120 procurements
• Sign and manage 100 contracts
• Prepare and submit at least 18 project/program proposals to international financiers (e.g. EC, GEF) and mobilize €20 million indirect co-funding through such proposals.
• Spend a maximum of 20% of its budget for administrative purposes (e.g. salaries, running costs)  
• 50% female employees

RESULT AREA 2: Create and implement tailored policy, legal and regulatory frameworks

Performance Indicators by 2016

• Develop and adopt one regional renewable energy policy and one energy efficiency policy
• Develop and pass RE laws in all ECOWAS Members States
• Ensure binding of national minimum renewable energy targets (MRET) adopted in all ECOWAS Member States
• Achieve 25% MRET across the Member States
• Develop five RE&EE support policies/strategies devoted to rural and peri-urban electrification/energy
• Achieve a 50% rate of adoption of national EE standards and labelling standards.

RESULT AREA 3: Capacities strengthened and applied

Performance Indicators by 2016

• Execute 80% of the Regional Capacity Building Program based on the Capacity Needs Assessment
• Train directly 500 stakeholders across identified target groups
• Conduct 15 training workshops
• Train 30 local institutions by applying a ‘train the trainers’ approach
• 60 national follow-up trainings are executed by local institutions (trained by ECREEE)
• 1.000 participants participated in the trainings of local institutions (trained by ECREEE)
• Achieve at least 70% positive feedback of participants in ECREEE trainings (e.g. evaluation forms)
• Conduct three workshops/meetings devoted to sustainable energy in rural/peri-urban areas
• At least 20% of the trained experts are female

RESULT AREA 4: Strengthen knowledge management, awareness raising, networks and advocacy

Performance Indicators by 2016

Awareness raising, advocacy and networks

• Attract 21,000 visits per year to the ECREEE website
• Draw 50% of visits from the ECOWAS region/Africa
• Conduct two surveys per year among stakeholders and general public
• Attain 50,000 contacts in the ECREEE database
• Send 12 alerts per year to all database contacts
• Record 200 friends on Facebook
• Record 200 twitter followers
• Conduct one awareness campaign per year (radio ads/interviews/mentions)
• Publish ten press releases per year
• Disseminate four newsletters per year.

Knowledge management

• Establish the ECOWAS Observatory for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECOWREX) and catalogue 500 documents in the database
• Record 20,000 downloads from the EORE
• Conduct Resource Assessments (solar and wind) contrasted with field measurements (max 10% of data error) of 20% of regional territory
• Conduct Resource Assessment (flow and height) of 50% of the rivers in the region
• Conduct bioenergy crops assessment of 100% of territory in the region
• Organize 6 regional RE&EE conferences with more than 720 participants
• Give 90 presentations at major conferences
• Prepare five policy statements/briefs for regional and international policy and decision-making processes
• Complete two flagship ECOWAS RE&EE publications

RESULT AREA 5: Business and investment promotion 

Performance Indicators by 2016

• Organize five forums of the  ECOWAS Renewable Energy Investment and Business Initiative (ERIBI) and five meetings of the Business Advisory Council (BAC)
• Mobilize €500 million of investment for the project pipeline of the RIBI
• Undertake 20 pre-investment studies leading to actual investments
• Develop and implement ten RE&EE demonstration projects
• Approve and implement 90 rural and peri-urban ECOWAS Renewable Energy Facility (EREF) projects
• Create or support ten local energy service companies (ESCOs)
• Complete 15 Electrical Grid Dynamic Analysis (EGDA) studies to evaluate the RES penetration potential in the region
• Mobilize a minimum of €30 million of co-funding for investment projects directly supported/funded and/or developed by ECREEE.