UNIDO’s support in Quality Infrastructure promotion in West Africa
UNIDO has been the first technical partner of many West African States in the field of Quality. Thanks to the support of the European Union (EU), it has also been a pioneer in the setting-up of regional quality infrastructure. Since 2001, UNIDO has supported the 15 ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania through designing, establishing, enhancing and promoting quality infrastructure at national and regional level. This support has been ensured through three regional Programmes funded by the European Union (EU) for the total amount of EUR 42.5 million.
The third phase of these Programmes, the West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP), funded to the tune of EUR 12 million by the EU, has been ongoing from August 2014 to September 2019. The Programme has supported the implementation of the regional quality policy of ECOWAS aiming at “[…] establishing a framework for the development and operation of suitable, relevant, efficient and effective quality infrastructures to facilitate intra-regional and international trade, protect the consumer and the environment, and promote sustainable economic development.” After five years of implementation, the WAQSP officially ended on 19th September 2019 with an overall achievement rate of 92.5% and convincing and tangible results. "At the end of the five years of intervention, UNIDO is proud to have contributed to the achievement of many positive results of which the 15 harmonized national quality policies and the creation of ECOWAQ, the ECOWAS agency for quality", said the Project Manager Mr. Bernard Bau during the last Regional Steering Committee Meeting from 16-17 September 2019 in Abuja. He also thanked EU, ECOWAS and UEMOA Commissions for their continuous trust over these years.
This successful co-operation will continue through UNIDO’s implementation of projects under the EU-funded West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) which is a partnership initiative between ECOWAS and the EU.
Click here to watch the results of the WAQSP and visit the website for more information.
For more information, contact Mr. Bernard Bau (b.bau [at] unido.org (b[dot]bau[at]unido[dot]org))
