Marcel Gbaguidi
Resident Representative / Director General
SOAC WAAS

On Monday, July 8, 2024, the West African Accreditation System (SOAC WAAS) officially launched its project to digitalise accreditation and conformity assessment systems in West Africa. This event took place in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Representatives from the sanitary and phytosanitary authorities of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) member states and the Republic of Guinea, along with conformity assessment bodies (CABs) accredited by SOAC WAAS, attended the launch of this significant project aimed at improving access to accreditation in the region.

Funded 60% by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) of the World Trade Organization (WTO), this project is a collaboration between SOAC WAAS and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The two-day launch workshop featured constructive discussions on key topics such as regulatory frameworks for accreditation within the UEMOA region and the new digital mechanism for managing accreditation applications at SOAC WAAS.

The diversity of participants and the innovations presented, notably the digitalization of the accreditation process and, more generally, the dematerialization of SOAC WAAS capabilities, made this workshop a valuable platform for sharing good practices.

“The establishment of SOAC WAAS has significantly reduced the cost of accreditation in the region. We are eager to see SOAC WAAS expand and digitalise its activities,” explained Olga Kouassi, General Director of BNA Côte d’Ivoire, accredited by SOAC WAAS and President of the newly formed Ivorian Association of Conformity Assessment Bodies (AI-OEC).

The event saw participation from Ivorian authorities, representatives of UEMOA, ECOWAS, STDF-WTO, UNIDO, European co-operation for Accreditation (EA), Belgian Accreditation Body (BELAC), the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (AFSCA), specialized ECOWAS committees on accreditation (ECORAS) and conformity assessment (ECOCONF), SOAC WAAS, the Federation of West African Employers’ Organizations (FOPAO), and the accredited CABs.