Commissioner for Industry and Private sector Promotion 

[The ECOWAS Commission, through its projects (ed.)], «must contribute to boost regional integration, structural transformation of West African economies, offer a coherent reference framework for development and integration initiatives, promote the private sector, contribute to the construction of a competitive, secure and sustainable regional economic union, set up a business-friendly environment, in a context of good governance, rule of law, peace and security, and promote strong economic growth, jobs creation and sustainable development within the ECOWAS region». 

Marcel Alain de Souza
President of the ECOWAS Commission 

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Dear readers,

The first ECOWAS Quality Awards ceremony was held on the 30th of June 2017 in Abidjan. It represents the culmination of a long process that started officially in January 2016,with the adoption of the harmonized award criteria for all countries. It required a sustained commitment from national and regional private sectors, the public sector and civil society. My thanks go to all those who have worked hard for this clear success.

In this regard, I would like to thank the President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, His Excellency Alassane Ouattara, and his entire government, particularly the Minister of Industry and Mines, Mr. Jean Claude Brou, for having agreed to deal with the challenges of organizing this grand opening with the ECOWAS Commission. I would like to thank all the Quality Ministers and particularly those who have been able to participate in the regional award ceremony.

Dear winners,

With your awards, you become the pioneers of quality in West Africa and set an example that will hopefully be followed by others, for the benefit of ECOWAS citizens. Having proven your merit at national level, you now rank first in the region. Congratulations!

Many thanks to all the companies that participated in this ceremony! The fact that you reached the top level in your own countries is evidence of your excellence in quality. I would like to stress that only national winners qualify to participate in the regional competition.

Behind the organization of these awards, stands a genuine quality promotion system, now operating at national and regional levels.

There are more than 300 executives in the region who have been identified, alerted and trained in quality and have done their utmost to help make this exciting adventure happen: award secretaries, award managers, national and regional auditors, regional supervisors and panel members, to name just a few. About 30 companies from 14 countries took up the challenge. Women entrepreneurs were represented, such as the category C Excellence Award given to Clina Lancet Laboratories headed by a woman who received the special Best Female Business Manager Award (cover photo). Thank you!

Undoubtedly, as with all human endeavours, improvements are expected in future awards. The first step has clearly been taken: the region now has national awards and an ECOWAS Award to develop quality for the benefit of consumers in our region. We can be proud of this.

We would like to extend our warm welcome to our partners, the WAEMU Commission with its experience in the field, UNIDO for its technical expertise provided through the WAQSP team and the European Union for its constant support. I would like to extend these thanks to PTB, GIZ, USAID and ARSO, whose work contributes to strengthening the region’s quality system.

The sustainability of these awards cannot be conceived without the definition and management of standards, the basis of quality. The region has made progress in these sectors. We will have an opportunity to present the results of these activities in our next newsletter.

Kalilou Traoré 

Commissioner for Industry and Private sector Promotion