Africa Catalyst Project No. 3 – ACP3

Watershed Moment in Harmonising Francophone & Anglophone Engineering Education, Training and Mobility in West Africa.

The aim of the Africa Catalyst Project No.3 (ACP3) funded by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) was to establish a framework for the harmonisation and accreditation of engineering education, professional practice and mobility in West Africa initially and in the mid to longer-term, internationally.

Research and Development (R&D) activities of the framework were performed and delivered by EfCSL, whose French/English bilingual ACP3 Project Lead Reg Leopold further analysed major findings in an article presented to the UNESCO 7th Africa Engineering Week conference in October 2021, as a contribution to the African Union’s flagship project: “The Africa We Want” Agenda 2063.

A collaborative fact-finding visit to Senegal initiated by EfCSL; ensued in November 2021, by a three-man delegation composed of WAFEO and SLIE representatives together with the EfCSL Lead who also served as trip coordinator and Francophone/Anglophone interface. Meetings were held between the visiting delegation and executives of the main Academic and Professional Engineering Institutions in the Capital Dakar and in Thiès aka “The Rail City”. The team met among others, with Directors of the Professional Engineering Institutions; APICS and ADEPT, and those of the Higher Education Institutions; UCAD, ENSP, IST, ENSAT, and ENPT. The excellent visit was a landmark achievement in a long-running pursuit by the West African Federation of Engineering Organisations (WAFEO), of harmonising educational and professional activities in the Francophone and Anglophone regions within their jurisdiction.

Impacts and Sustainability

(i) Robust data now available on harmonisation and accreditation processes

(ii) Common processes and differences have been identified and serve as crucial inputs to the Harmonisation and Accreditation pathways

(iii) Framework developed that will serve as a reference document for WAFEO/FAEO in establishing a sub-regional body provisionally named: West African

Accreditation and Harmonisation Council (WAHAC)

(iv) WAFEO passed resolutions for a bilingual Special Adviser and a Consultant to their Organisation on 29th December 2021

(v) A further resolution was passed for APICS to be provisionally recognised as Institution of Senegalese Engineers while awaiting Parliamentary “Order”.

For further information please contact:
Engineers for Change-Sierra Leone
Email: contact@engineersforchange-sl.org
or
Reg Leopold
Email: reginaldleopold@engineersforchange-sl.org

French Abbreviations

UCAD: Université Cheikh Anta Diop

ENSP: École Nationale Supérieure Polytechnique (de l’UCAD, Dakar)

ENPT: École Nationale Polytechnique de Thiès

ENSAT: École Nationale Supérieure Agronomique de Thiès

IST: Institut des Sciences de la Terre

APICS: Association des Professionnels de l’Ingénierie Conseil du Sénégal

ADEPT: Amicale des Diplômés de l’École Polytechnique de Thiès