The West Africa Quality System Programme (WAQSP), in collaboration with the Federation of West African Employers’ Association (FWAEA), organized from 10 to 12 June 2019 in Bamako (Mali) , a training workshop to the requirements of the ISO 9001 V 2015 standard, designed for quality managers of private companies in Mali, members of FWAEA. This training workshop, which is part of a series of capacity building for the benefit of the quality actors of the private sector of the beneficiary States, aims to develop and consolidate the quality culture at the level of FWAEA and its members.

The workshop was attended by the representative of the Commission of the European Union, Mrs. TRAORE Haby SOW, Country Representative of UNIDO in Mali, Mrs. DIARRAH Assa SYLLA, Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Director General of AMANORM, National Focal Point of WAQSP, the National Technical Coordinator of WAQSP, Mr. Ibrahima SANGARE as a trainer facilitator recruited by the Programme, and representatives of private companies.

At the opening ceremony, the UNIDO Country Representative emphasized that the needs in Mali in the field of quality are enormous; this justifies the relevance of training actions like the one currently in progress. "... the novelty of the 2015 version of the ISO 9001 standard lies in taking into account the economic, environmental, legislative and social context of the company, aspects of paramount importance in achieving the objectives of the Sustainable Development", she said.  In her speech, the Minister's representative indicated that the WAQSP will undoubtedly contribute to the development of a favorable business environment and thus enable companies in the West African region to be more competitive in the export market, thanks to the strengthening of national and regional Quality Infrastructures. Finally, she reassured the participants of the availability of the Government of Mali, through its administrative department, to continue the actions in favor of the competitiveness of the national companies of any sector.

During the three (03) days of work, the trainer focused on the generalities of the ISO 9001 standard, namely: the quality issues, the evolution of quality, the history of the ISO 9001 standard, the main changes, the new structure of ISO standards, the requirements of ISO 9001 V 2015 and their application. He also emphasized the understanding of the organization and its context, the understanding of the needs and expectations of the interested parties, the determination of the field of application of the QMS, the establishment and the implementation of the QMS, the leadership, planning, support, implementation of operational activities, performance evaluation, etc.

At the end of the workshop, the participants expressed their satisfaction, thanking the Malian government, ECOWAS, the European Union, and UNIDO for this opportunity offered to the actors of the Malian private sector. The workshop ended after the delivery of certificates to the 20 (twenty) participants representing private companies designated by the National Council of Employers of Mali, member of FWAEA.