Complying to standards create good trade environment in Africa

Complying to standards create good trade environment in Africa

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Addis Ababa, 24 September 2014 (WIC) - The 5th African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) General Assembly workshop was officially opened yesterday here in Addis Ababa.

Director General of Ethiopian National Accreditation Office (ENAO) Araya Fisseha, welcomed all participants to the event, and extended his thanks for having the opportunity to host this “special event” here in Addis Ababa, the political city of Africa.

For Fisseha, hosting this occasion means a good opportunity of learning and sharing experience among each other and he expressed his hope for the coming days of the program in that it will be successfully concluded by passing binding resolution by the General Assembly.

Indeed hosting this occasion has its benefit, as it will afford Ethiopia and more precisely, ENAO, a close platform to learn and participate among peers.

The Office, a sole accreditation office under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has assembled over 46 competent assessors to deliver competent accreditation service.
According to State Minister of Science and Technology Mahamouda Ahmed Gaas, ENAO since its time of establishment is working very hard, by which it has achieved a milestone in terms of system development as per ISO/IEC 17011 and ILAC-IAF requirements.

“The accreditation office has delivered accreditation certificate to 18 facilities and received other 28 applicants, and out of these, 5 facilities are assessed on site, 17 facilities documents are viewed and 5 facilities are on document reviewing”, the State Minister said.

Acknowledging the role of accreditation in enhancing trade flow and integration among Africans and its part in strengthening competitiveness of African products and services in the global market, Mahamouda said: “If Africa process with value addition and meet the standards and authenticate our products and services' compliance to the standard by competent conformity assessment bodies, it will create a good trade environment and linkage among African countries share of global trade.”

Touching upon this further and on the broader framework, Head of Trade at African Union Commission Nadir Merah on the occasion said that standard and quality infrastructure is one of the areas of 'Agenda 2063; vision and priorities set by African Union (AU).

“The quality and standard institution is for ensuring quality and safety of products and services. It also serves for the protection of environment and consumer health. Those are the objectives behind developing standard and quality infrastructure in general”, he said.

Africa is currently trading less than 3 per cent, a meager number. The continent is exporting around 80 per cent raw materials. According to Merah, those numbers are in one part attributed to the fact that the continent doesn't comply with the quality asked at the international market and judging by the fact that the continent absolutely needs to rise its manufacturing export, this calls out for the need of a standard and quality institute that can upgrade the scientific basis and that ensure coordination between regional and international standard bodies.

African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC) chairperson Ron Josias, for his part said: "Sustainable growth requires sustainable and able-ing infrastructures”, and it is against this backdrop and motivation of bright future of the continent that AFRAC is mapping its structures and directives.

He also said that the cooperation encourages and supports the development of all accreditation bodies in Africa, and serve as the voice of Africa in matters of accreditation in the international stage. It’s time to have a single voice, talking like Africa, (when it comes to accreditation), he added; considering the majority of accreditation like ISO and the like from the developed world.

Member of the Organizing Committee of African Society for Laboratories (ASLM) Dr. Tsehaynesh Messele, a Pan-African professional body involved in advancing professional laboratory medicine across Africa which includes helping with accreditation process, held a presentation about the organization in support of accreditation.

The five day workshop will hold orientation for new members, workshops for new and emerging accreditation bodies and for progress in accreditation in Africa, among other programs. (EH)