Officials from national standards boards from over 20 African countries, who are meeting in Kigali, have started charting a five-year common strategy that will ensure harmony among standards across the continent.

The aim is to ensure differences in standards do not hinder intra-Africa trade, according to organisers.

The three-day workshop is under the auspices of the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for developing countries with specific regard to strengthening national standards bodies’ strategic capabilities between 2016 and 2020.

Participants will be expected to consolidate standardisation priorities and formulate concrete actions which will be adopted in national plans of the respective countries.

Dr Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, director general of RSB, says there is need to increase the capacity of standardisation boards to be able to maintain and enforce standards.

"Each country has its own methodology of standardisation and the purpose of this meeting is to ensure that trade is not hindered by the differences in standards of products’ quality in by different countries,” he said.

"Africa’s strength lies in promoting and strengthening intra-Africa trade. The main purpose of this course is to harmonise priorities set by various standardisation boards though establishing common standard measurements, thereby promoting trade amongst member countries,” Bagabe added.

Reinhard Weissinger, a senior expert and representative of ISO, said standards are a vital element of industrial and general societal development, hence they need to be aligned with the priorities of the country.

"We want to make sure that when standards are developed, they are established with the understanding of what is crucial for the country. We also consult and reach out to stakeholders who are directly affected by standards, like industrialists and consumers,” he explained.

"The main challenge is that in many developing countries knowledge about standards is not widely available.

Therefore, to discourage consumption of sub standard products, a lot of effort needs to be incorporated to increase the use of standards, hence improve the livelihood of people in various countries,” he said.

David Eboku, the head of standards at the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, said member countries should become more systematic in formulating standards which will eventually contribute to national economic development.

"This is going to help overcome a few challenges that were faced while formulating standards as priority and specific areas will be identified and adequately dealt with depending on the country’s capacity and resources at their disposal,” he said.

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