The African Organisation for Standardisation’s (ARSO’s) Forum slated for Abuja between June 22 and 24 is expected to remove restrictions to trade among African nations owing to differences in standards governing commerce in the continent.
The Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria and President of ARSO, Dr. Joseph Ikem Odumodu, said this in a chat with reporters.
Explaining why the forum is focusing on the trade facilitation, Dr. Odumodu said: “Every organism prospers by utilising the material which every part supplies. But hardly does Africa draw strength from the trade the different countries in the continent engage in because, separated by standards, the countries hardly trade among themselves. Now, ARSO President’s Forum Abuja 2015 is bringing 55 heads of national standards bodies (NSB) in Africa together to open the gates of harmonisation of standards and let goods and services flow smoothly across the continent.”
He added that industrialists will sit together with the standards bodies’ chief executive officers (CEOs) at a roundtable to share insights and challenges on standardisation as stakeholders.
“Sitting at a roundtable with the 55 NSB CEOs is a rare opportunity for entrepreneurs to expand their business to other African countries.
“By participating in the ARSO President’s Forum, companies are automatically at the gates of 55 African countries and are a step to the 1.1 billion consumers in the continent. Imagine when they now establish relationships with the NSB CEOs.
“The NSB CEOs are high-level decision-makers for their countries’ trade policy and standards implementation,” Dr. Odumodu said.
The ARSO president said a trade fair tagged: “Made in Africa Expo”, will run for the three days during the event alongside the other activities.
He said “the fair is open to any product whether certified or not because the emphasis is on showcasing the potentials of all SMEs and cottage industries and projecting made in Nigeria products to the nations of Africa”.
Dr. Odumodu added that 10 of the best exhibiting SMEs would be selected by a distinguished international panel to compete in the “Made in Africa Products Fair” to be held in Egypt later in the year.
He added that 10 of the best exhibiting SMEs would be considered for free certification.
Participants expected at the forum include manufacturers, service providers, medium and small-scale enterprises, investors and representatives of government ministries, departments and agencies. The International Conference Centre, Abuja is the venue of the Forum.
The ARSO President’s Forum is the aftermath of the 20th ARSO General Assembly endorsement of a proposal for Dr. Odumodu to convene a special forum of NSB chief executives and engage them on ARSO standardisation programmes to make Africa one market. The ARSO 20th Assembly took place in Kigali, Rwanda in June 2014.