Minister of Energy, John Abdulai Jinapor
The sub-region’s energy security’s future depends on deeper cooperation, harmonised regulation and coordinated investment, Minister for Energy and Green Transition John Abdulai Jinapor stated at the 2025 West Africa Energy Cooperation summit held in Accra last week.
Jinapor said the region can no longer afford fragmented approaches that isolate national utilities and increase system-wide costs. Integration, he noted, remains the most viable route to delivering reliable, affordable power to households and industry.
Addressing summit participants, the minister said the region must move with urgency toward a fully interconnected, interoperable and inclusive energy system.
“For far too long, our energy systems have operated in isolation – undermining our collective resilience.”
John Jinapor observed that by aggregating the Gross Domestic Products of member states, the region can negotiate more favourable financing terms for infrastructure than any single nation can achieve alone.
The minister’s suggestion is not far-fetched when it is considered that in November this year (2025), the West African Power Pool (WAPP) successfully conducted a four-hour synchronisation trial linking the Ghana-Benin network with Nigeria at Sakete substation in Benin.
In fact, this trial represented the entire regional grid’s first time of operating as a single system, marking a significant step toward regional power. The exercise demonstrated the technical feasibility and economic potential of deeper interconnection.
This achievement points to what is possible when countries commit to integration. Regional integration has been on the cards for over four decades and while the sub-region has been experimenting with the idea we have scored some modest success.
Therefore, deepening that integration to include energy synchronisation can bring added advantages to the isolated attempts most countries have been grappling with these past years.
Indeed, energy will play a decisive role in success for the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as well as the African Single Electricity Market (AfSEM). Cross-border manufacturing, logistics and digital innovation cannot expand without dependable and competitively priced power.
However, the viability of this regional market heavily depends on Nigeria – the region’s largest economy and gas producer. We understand a significant infrastructure overhaul to meet these regional aspirations is underway and we can only hope that this will be achieved to pave the way for greater integration.
