The Smart Villages Initiative, in collaboration with the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) and the European Union Energy Initiative Partnership Dialogue Facility (EUEI PDF), held a workshop titled ‘High-level workshop on energy access in West Africa’ in March 2017. The inceptive workshop served as a kick-off event to a wider capacity-building engagement on CEMGs in the ECOWAS region and provided insight into the challenges faced by ECOWAS countries with regards to CEMGs. In addition, a core component of the workshop was an opportunity to reflect on, and consequently to refine, the conclusions and recommendations from the Smart Villages Initiative West Africa engagement programme. The objective was to communicate the experiences, views, and recommendations of frontline individuals and organisations to policymakers in West Africa on how off-grid energy access can be achieved so as to catalyse productive enterprise and the provision of essential services, such as healthcare and education, in rural villages.