Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have set a January 2025 deadline for the adoption cleaner fuels and vehicles in the region to reduce air pollution across the cities.
ECOWAS Director of Energy, Bayaornibe Dabire while making this disclosure, said that the range of fuel specifications in the sub-region currently spans 50 Parts Per Million (PPM) sulphur in some countries to 10, 000 ppm in others.
He emphasised the need for harmonisation led to the issuance of ECOWAS directive C/DIR.2/09/20 last year, which, he said, covered exhaust gas and particulate emission limits for two-wheeled, light and heavy vehicles.
Dabire stressed that any improvement in fuel specifications without alignment with vehicle emission limits would not have the desired effect, emphasising that member states should prohibit the import of petrol and diesel which do not comply with the harmonised fuel specifications.
He noted that “From January 1, 2025, only gasoline and diesel that meet the harmonised fuel specifications can be marketed within the ECOWAS region. A waiver would be provided for refineries within the region to remain operational while they introduce measures to comply with the directive.”
He said the age limit for importing vehicles into the ECOWAS region has been set at five years for light-duty vehicles, two-wheel motor vehicles, tricycles and quadricycles and 10 years for heavy-duty vehicles, adding that a period of 10 years would be granted to countries that have not yet adopted the age limits to gradually comply.
In his comments, ARDA’s Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Anibor Kragha, explained that effective regulatory frameworks remain critical for development of the energy sector, especially as Africa’s population is projected to increase significantly over the next two decades.
He called for clarity from the regulators, individuals and organisations to which the regulations apply and the consequences for non-compliance, explaining how a strong regulator can use data-driven decisions to effectively drive key reforms in the area of cleaner fuel imports.
Director, Pricing, Planning & Research at the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in Ghana, Alpha Welbeck, emphasised the need for digital monitoring across the value chain from offshore to retail, providing end-to-end visibility of operations and reducing the tendency for companies to cut corners or make abnormal profits.