ECOWAS to launch its Fund for Energy and Transport before year ends

Investments
Monday, 08 April 2024 15:43
ECOWAS to launch its Fund for Energy and Transport before year ends

(Togo First) - The ECOWAS Development and Financing Fund for the Transport and Energy Sectors (FODETE) should come online by the end of this year. According to the Ecofin Agency, which reported the news, Sediko Douka, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy, and Digitalisation, mentioned the possibility on April 4, on the sidelines of the first ECOWAS Investment Forum (EIF) in Lomé.

Approved for implementation in June 2009, the FODETE was delayed by several issues. However, recent regional tensions between 2020 and 2022 have injected new momentum into the project. 

According to Sedikou Douka, the Fund will be fueled by export taxes levied in ECOWAS States: mining, oil, gas, and agricultural exports will provide the needed tax revenues. According to recent estimates, these revenues could reach $450 million yearly.

The FODETE will help improve infrastructure in the transport and energy sectors, crucial for economic growth and regional integration. It will be managed by the Lomé-based ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID). The latter has allocated $4 billion or half of its financing for 2024 to integration infrastructure projects.

However, there are still issues of the regional consensus on the tax levy and the levy rate. Still, the FODETE should significantly help tackle the ECOWAS’ growing needs for infrastructure, estimated at an annual investment deficit of $12 billion.

Ayi Renaud Dossavi

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