West Africa is advancing regional electricity integration through more than 4,000 kilometres of high-voltage transmission lines that now link the power grids of 15 countries, according to the World Bank.
The infrastructure, developed under the West African Power Pool, has enabled cross-border electricity trade that currently accounts for about eight per cent of the region’s generated power. This figure is approaching the European Commission’s benchmark of 10 to 12 per cent for cross-border electricity trade.
Between 2019 and 2025, transmission and distribution upgrades supported under the programme brought electricity services to more than three million people in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.
The expansion addresses long-standing challenges of electricity shortages, high generation costs and weak utility finances that have limited economic activity across the sub-region. Several countries previously held surplus generation capacity, particularly from hydropower, but lacked the transmission lines and trading frameworks needed to export power to neighbours facing deficits.
Major projects include the Côte d’Ivoire–Liberia–Sierra Leone–Guinea transmission line, the Guinea–Guinea-Bissau–The Gambia–Senegal transmission loop and the Senegal–Mali interconnector. These links have allowed lower-cost electricity, especially hydropower, to flow into markets that previously relied on more expensive fuel-based generation.
In Guinea-Bissau, the regional transmission loop helped the national utility EAGB reduce generation costs from about 25 US cents per kilowatt-hour to 11 US cents. The Gambia’s utility NAWEC achieved roughly 42 per cent cost savings and returned to profitability, drawing on Guinea’s hydropower resources. Liberia and Sierra Leone have cut generation costs by between 10 and 20 per cent by importing power from Côte d’Ivoire through the Côte d’Ivoire–Liberia–Sierra Leone–Guinea network.
The programme is also advancing institutional arrangements for a regional electricity market. The West African Power Pool and the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority have validated tariffs for a new Day-Ahead Market, which is expected to allow utilities to purchase electricity in advance at lower cost and reduce dependence on expensive emergency generation during shortages. In late 2025, the West African Power Pool completed its first grid-synchronisation trial, achieving uninterrupted power flows across 12 countries. Permanent synchronisation of the wider system remains a stated objective.
Construction and operation of the transmission networks have generated more than 52,000 direct and indirect jobs in engineering, construction, logistics, project management and operations and maintenance.
The World Bank has noted that the programme will continue to expand cross-border trade, strengthen utility finances and improve access as the region moves towards a more integrated power market. Additional interconnector projects are under preparation. Co-financing has come from partners including the African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the West African Development Bank, the Islamic Development Bank and Agence Française de Développement.
Nigeria, as a major member of the West African Power Pool, participates in the regional system alongside Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. Successful synchronisation tests involving the Nigerian grid and neighbouring systems form part of the broader technical progress towards unified operation.
Despite these advances, electricity access rates, supply reliability and utility financial health remain uneven across the region. Persistent challenges include transmission and distribution losses, high operating costs in some national systems and the need for continued investment in both generation and last-mile connections. The Day-Ahead Market and fuller grid synchronisation are intended to improve efficiency and reduce costs, but their full impact will depend on sustained regulatory coordination, payment discipline among utilities and complementary national reforms.
The World Bank’s results summary positions the transmission build-out and market development as foundational steps towards greater energy security and economic opportunity in West Africa. Further expansion of interconnectors and the operationalisation of short-term trading mechanisms will determine how far the region progresses towards the levels of cross-border electricity exchange seen in more integrated markets.