ACP4 Project

Development of a Framework for the establishment of a West African Engineering Professional Harmonisation & Accreditation Council (WAEPHAC)

Project WAEPHAC, a bilingual oriented project in English and French, was conducted almost entirely by the Engineers for Change Sierra Leone (EfCSL) (see the attached Gantt/Activity Chart) which also served as Co-Lead, in partnership with the Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO), the Ghana Institution of Engineers (GhIE) (Lead/Grant recipient) and the Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers(
SLIE). The project was funded by a grant received from
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE/RAEng) under the aegis of their African Catalyst Programme Phase 4 (ACP4).

The project’s comprehensive Final Report submitted to the RAE was acclaimed as Outstanding.

The project benchmarked engineering learning and professional accreditation attributes, created the framework for an autonomous registration and regulatory sub-regional engineering council and developed the concept of EcoIng for Chartered Engineers (similar to the EurIng), which will overcome issues such as those related to cross-border professional mobility, accredited recognition, registration and practice in the subregion.

WAEPHAC/ACP4 built upon the tenets and cornerstones of the earlier, successful (and similarly bilingual) ACP3 project that was also performed predominantly by EfCSL, as was reported in an earlier publication, consisted of studies on harmonising engineering education and professional training in West Africa.

In-depth studies of systems for Higher Engineering Education Institutions (HEI) and Professional Engineering Institutions (PEI) were performed and fact-finding visits in Case Study countries were conducted in Senegal, the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
In addition, and for comparison and benchmarking purposes, a wide range of countries in Northern, Southern and Eastern Africa were also closely investigated.

HEI and PEI Questionnaires in English and their in-house translated equivalents in French, were designed and distributed to leading HEI and PEI institutions in various countries through their heads who also served as main respondents, thereby harvesting data and information that were digitally and manually analysed.

The HEIs were mainly Universities overall and Elite Engineering Schools and/or Polytechnics in Francophone countries (Grandes Écoles: Les Écoles Nationales Supérieures, Les Écoles Nationales Polytechniques, Les Instituts Nationaux Polytechniques, etc).
PEIs were professional engineering institutions and their regulatory bodies, these latter are the “Ordres” or Orders in Francophone territory.
EfCSL led visits to the headquarters of the regional governing bodies for engineering education
(CAMES) and for accreditations (SOAC) in Burkina Faso and Abidjan respectively, and an exclusive impromptu press interview was held with the EfCSL representative, which was subsequently published in the CAMES newsletter (attached) circulating in its 19 member countries.
Project validation workshops were organised in Kumasi, Ghana and Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The project was phased into different parts leading to the delivery of the following in the Final Report.

Part 1. Country membership system reviewed (Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Cote d’ivoire and Burkina Faso).
A. Documentation of processes of membership from student membership to Fellow of the institution.
1.⁠ ⁠Identified financial obligations of each level of membership including transfer fees.
2.⁠ ⁠Developed questionnaires to baseline the desk research.
3.⁠ ⁠Analysed questionnaire results.
4.⁠ ⁠Identified and tabulated common processes and divergences.

B. Validation of findings through interviews with heads of PEIs contacted.
1.⁠ ⁠Planned and designed interview approach
2.⁠ ⁠Conducted interviews with heads of PEIs or their representatives.
3.⁠ ⁠Analysed results of interviews

Part 2. Documentation of processes undertaken by international engineering professional bodies (EC, FEANI, Washington Accord, Bologna Accord, CAMES, FEIACP)
1.⁠ ⁠Conducted investigation on the processes of membership.
2.⁠ ⁠Conducted research on the organisational membership structure of the bodies identified.
3.⁠ ⁠Reviewed the eligibility conditions for cross border or non-national recognition of membership.

Part 3. Establishment of Benchmark Minimum Academic and Professional Standards (BMAPS) for Sub regional recognition.
1.⁠ ⁠Researched minimum competencies and attributes stipulated by the international professional bodies (FEANI, EC, Washington Accord, FEIAP)
2.⁠ ⁠Undertook a comparative analysis of PEIs studied with the above international BMAPS.
3.⁠ ⁠Compiled the BMAPS for regional consultation.

Part4. Development the dossier for the establishment of the West African Harmonisation and Accreditation Council. (WAEPHAC).

A. Reviewing and establishing Frameworks.
1.⁠ ⁠Reviewed the terms of reference and proposed structure (Governance) of the WAEPHAC developed in ACP3.
2.⁠ ⁠Compared the proposed WAEPHAC governance structure with best practices of organisations studied.
3.⁠ ⁠Prepared report on findings and recommendations for international consultative meetings.
4.⁠ ⁠Established a Framework for the mutual recognition of engineers in the sub region towards the award of the Eco.Ing (Eco.Ing/Eco.Engr/Uem.Ing) status similar to the Eur.Ing in European countries.
5.⁠ ⁠Considered country options for the construction of the HQ of WAEPHAC: Senegal and Ghana were shortlisted.

B. Organised a Consultative 4-man visits with selected PEIs to discuss proposals.
1.⁠ ⁠Organised international visits to partner countries to discuss WAEPHAC and the Eco.Ing status for adoption.
2.⁠ ⁠Visited Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’ivoire
3.⁠ ⁠GhIE held a workshop in Kumasi, Ghana.
4.⁠ ⁠SLIE held a national workshop in Sierra Leone.
5.⁠ ⁠Compiled project report on visits and national workshops.

C. Compilation of draft final report and submission to RAEng.
1.⁠ ⁠Established a chapter profile
2.⁠ ⁠Assigned chapters to partners
3.⁠ ⁠Organised validation conference.
4.⁠ ⁠Explored the possibility of establishing temporary offices of WAEPHAC at WAFEO, Ghana.
5.⁠ ⁠Compiled and submitted final report to RAE.

Abbreviations

CAMES: Conseil Africain et Malgache pour l’Enseignement Supérieur
[African & Malagasy Council for Higher Education]

SOAC: Système Ouest Africain d’Accréditation
[West African System of Accreditation]

For other abbreviations, please refer to the attached Tabular (Executive) Summary of the ACP4 WAEPHAC project produced by EfCSL’s R. Leopold and presented to the RAE together with the final report.