The first regional capacity building workshop for the group of Francophone countries will be held in Niamey, the capital of Niger, from 3 to 5 May. This will be followed by the second one, which will take place from 9 to 11 May in Accra, Ghana, for the group of English-speaking countries. Finally, the third workshop will be held from 16 to 19 May in Lomé, Togo, for the second group of French and Portuguese-speaking countries. The main objective of this activity is to provide technical assistance to experts from Rural Electrification and/or Renewable Energy Agencies and Standardization Bodies responsible for off-grid in the ROGEAP member countries by building their capacities on the harmonized regional standards ECOSTAND IEC TS 62257-9-8:2020 and ECOSTAND IEC TS 62257-9-5:2018, related to off-grid solar home systems with power output up to 350 Wp and their laboratory test method.

The workshops will cover the following topics: (i) General and specific principles of the two standards, (ii) Conformity assessment, (iii) Market surveillance, (iv) Enforcement, and (v) Monitoring and evaluation of off-grid solar PV products up to 350 watts and their laboratory test methods.

The Niamey regional workshop, organized in collaboration with the Agence Nigérienne de Normalisation, de Métrologie et de Certification (ANM), the Agence Nigérienne de Promotion de l’Electrification en Milieu Rural (ANPER), and the Agence Nationale de l’Energie Solaire du Niger (ANERSOL), will be officially launched on 3 May by the Commissioner Sédiko DOUKA for Infrastructure, Energy, and Digitalization of ECOWAS Commission and the Honourable Minister of Industry and Young Entrepreneurship of the Republic of Niger, Ms. Salamatou GOUROUZA MAGAGI.