First ECOWAS Quality and Industry Database now available online
The first ECOWAS Quality and Industry Database (ECOQUIB), has been established and is now available online. The objective of ECOQUIB, originally developed under the EU-funded West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP) and recently updated in the context of the WACOMP regional programme, is to facilitate access to beneficiaries, providing an excellent overview of Quality and Industry data in the 16 ECOWAS countries and Mauritania. In the long term, this flexible and user-friendly platform aims to serve as a one-stop-shop, designed to provide reliable information for the entire West African region.
The Quality component of the ECOQUIB database contains information collected related to quality in each ECOWAS member state, such as on calibration laboratories, quality infrastructure experts, laboratory equipment repair centers, standards and inspection bodies, certification and standardization, etc. The Industry component contains various statistics about production, exports and imports (in volume and value), price indices, taxes, exemptions and wage remuneration in the industrial sector.
ECOQUIB has been recently updated after the finalization of the country diagnostics in the four selected value chains at regional level, which are (i) cassava and derivatives, (ii) mango, (iii) textiles and garments and (iv) information and communication technology. Focal points in each of the 16 West African countries have been trained and will be in charge of constantly updating the database with recent information for both the Quality and Industry section.
The West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) is a partnership initiative between the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the European Union (EU). The overall objective of the Programme is to strengthen the competitiveness of West Africa and to enhance the countries’ integration into the regional and international trading system. WACOMP is funded through a € 116 million contribution from the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP) for West Africa (2014 – 2020) under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).
Access the ECOQUIB database here.
Read the ECOQUIB flyer here.
For more information contact Bernard Bau (J.Davila [at] unido.org (B[dot]Bau[at]unido[dot]org))
