COURT PRESIDENT RECEIVES DELEGATION OF REGIONAL ELECTRICITY REGULATORY AUTHORITY

The President of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, Honourable Justice Edward Amoako Asante on Thursday, 30th May 2019 assured a visiting delegation of the ECOWAS Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERERA) of the Court’s willingness to contribute towards the resolution of the challenges confronting the Authority.

The Accra-based ERERA is the regional regulator for cross-border electricity trading in West Africa.

The President proposed that the swearing-in of ERERA’s Regulatory Council, which is a function of the ECOWAS Court of Justice, should take place during the June 2019 the mid-year Council of Ministers in Abuja. The three-member Regulatory Council consists of the chairman and two members.

The leader of the delegation, Professor Honoré Bogler, had told the President that the visit, the second since their assumption of duty in 2016, was intended to enable the delegation brief the members of the Court of the activities of ERERA, the role of the Court in the discharge of its mandate as well as discuss the possibility of the swearing-in of the Regulatory Council members.

The Chairman explained that there was the need to engage the Court, which serves as the appellate Court for decisions of ERERA as well as a specialized court of the electricity market, in order to appreciate its role in the effective functioning of the cross-border electricity trading arrangement.

He told the President that the first phase of the electricity market was launched successfully in June 2018 and that the launching of the second phase will allow ERERA to move towards a competitive market among ECOWAS Member States.

He equally explained that the second phase, which is the most important, requires the regulator to assume office as arbitrator, hence the need for the regulator to take an oath of office, which should have taken place on the assumption of office of the members of the Regulatory Council.

He identified the challenges faced by the Authority to include the difficulty in exercising its independence from the ECOWAS Commission and operators as envisaged under its statute and sought the Court’s help in resolving these legal problems to avoid difficulties in the launch of the second phase.

The Chairman was accompanied by Regulatory Council Members Mr. Aly Mar Ndiaye, Engineer; Dr. Haliru Dikko, Economist and Mr. Uwem Thompson, head of communication.

In attendance from the Court were Honourable Justices Gberi-Bè Ouattara, Vice President, Atoki Dupe and Keikura Bangura.