Plans to establish West African Professional Harmonisation & Accreditation Council for engineers firmed up

The project is being undertaken by a team made up of Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers (SLIE), Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO), Engineers for Change Sierra Leone (EfCSL).

The team lead is Ing. David Kwatia Nyante Executive Director of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), who serves as the Executive Secretary of the West African Federation of Engineering Organisations (WAFEO).

The project surveyed Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, La Cote d’Ivoire and Sierra Leone.

As part of the project, workshops were held in Ghana – National Workshop on 21st March, 2023 at the Engineering Centre, Roman Ridge, Accra and Validation Workshop on 30th March, 2023 at the Alliance Hotel Tarkoradi – as part of GhIE’s annual conference.

Both workshops were chaired by Ing. Carlien Bou-Chedid, Past President of the Ghana Institution of Engineering (GhIE), Immediate Past President of the Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO).

Objectives

The project seeks to develop a framework for the establishment of a West African Engineering Professional Harmonisation and Accreditation Council (WAEPHAC) focused on Professionalism, Mobility, Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion.

Once established, WAEPHAC will become a template for replication within member-countries of the Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO).

It will also be the governing and awarding body of the pre-nominal Eco.Ing and the Uem.Ing, referring to ECOWAS and UEMOA respectively, and similar to Europe’s Eur.Ing.

The responsibilities and functions to be carried out by the Council will include enhancing harmonisation of the different programmes for academic and professional accreditations through the establishment of Benchmark Minimum Academic and Professional Standards BMAPS for all engineering degree programmes in partnership with PEIs and sub regional accreditation bodies, recognising and partnering with the national Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) and their processes, harmonizing the processes of transfer of status and award of professional recognition, e.g. Corporate and Fellows of the Institutions, to ensure mutual professional recognition among its members and ensuring that the policies of Diversity and Inclusion are evident in the processes and operations of the PEIs.

It will also develop and implement strategies to enhance inter-regional and international exchanges of information such as for professional accreditation requirements and updates and create opportunities for cross border mobility of professionals and joint project execution. The aims outlined above are strongly aligned with Africa Catalyst’s objectives of strengthening the internal capacity of Professional Engineering Bodies and expanding their influence at both local and national levels.