About us
Africa's economic development is impeded by its weak integration into the world economy. Its share in global trade is only about 3 percent, whereas intra-African trade represents as little as 0.5 percent of total world trade. Our goal is to jointly promote intra-African trade as well as Africa's role as an exporter on the international market and to increase local value creation. To this end, we are focusing on improving product quality and strengthening the national quality infrastructure. To this end, we develop partnerships with European and African companies, associations and the quality infrastructure.
The quality infrastructure includes all actors involved in standardisation, metrology, accreditation and conformity assessment services (inspection, testing and certification of products and systems). A well-developed quality infrastructure is a prerequisite for local companies to participate in international trade: without it, the quality and safety of their products cannot be demonstrated.
We come into play when European companies want to import from Africa or when African companies want to trade more within Africa and product quality poses a challenge. Together with African and European companies and associations, we develop and implement projects to overcome these barriers. To find out more about the nature of these projects, have a look at our range of services or our current Projects .
Our projects support African companies in accessing new markets - regional and international. These new export opportunities enable them to increase their production and achieve higher prices for their products, which in turn can lead to an increase in wages. Environmental and social standards, which are in high demand by international importers, furthermore have positive effects on working conditions and the protection of natural resources.
Win-Win Situation
We combine development cooperation with the interests of the private sector. European and African companies benefit equally from our work.
European companies benefit from…
- Access to certified, high-quality products from Africa
- Long-term supplier relationships with African companies
- A wider range of quality assurance services at production sites in African countries
African companies benefit from…
- Improved access to regional and international markets
- Training on quality requirements and management
- Improved access to calibration, testing and certification services
Secretariat
Our secretariat is jointly managed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the National Metrology Institute of Germany (Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, PTB). They act on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, BMZ). Together, they support companies and associations in the development and implementation of projects, as well as through consulting and networking.
Our team
Sara Mohns
Coordination
Dr. Barbara Siegmund
Coordination
