Conakry: The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recently convened the inaugural meeting of the Regional Project Coordination Committee (RPCC) for the Western Africa Regional Digital Integration Program (WARDIP) in Conakry, Guinea. This meeting marks a significant milestone in the pursuit of the region’s digital transformation agenda.
According to African Press Organization, WARDIP is a World Bank-funded initiative aimed at enhancing broadband access and establishing a unified digital market across West Africa. The first Series of Projects (SOP1) is scheduled to run from 2024 to 2028, with implementation led by The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritania, the ECOWAS Commission, the African Union, and Smart Africa.
The RPCC functions as a coordination mechanism within WARDIP, providing strategic guidance and policy insights to align annual work plans with regional and cross-country priorities. It is also tasked with advising on potential synergies across national and regional components to maximize investment impacts, conducting annual project reviews, and facilitating knowledge sharing between the ECOWAS Commission and participating countries.
Representatives from the implementing agencies in participating countries, the ECOWAS Commission, the World Bank, and officials from respective Project Implementation Units attended the meeting. It served as a platform to discuss the roadmap for sustained collaboration among project partners, focusing on knowledge sharing and learning.
The implementing countries committed to using the established coordination mechanisms to effectively follow up on outputs and actions at the national level that are adopted during regional-level activities. This successful inaugural meeting sets the stage for coordinated efforts to accelerate WARDIP’s implementation, ensuring the project’s objectives of increasing broadband access and advancing digital market integration across Western Africa are met.
