Brussels, 25 October 2023 – TIC Council announces the establishment of its Africa Committee, dedicated to advancing sustainable development initiatives across the African continent.
The formation of the TIC Council Africa Committee underscores the organization's commitment to contributing to Africa's progress by harnessing its expertise in inspection, verification, testing, and certification across various industries. The committee will focus on key areas such as sustainability, cybersecurity, cross-border trade and infrastructure, aiming to promote economic growth, environmental sustainability, and digital resilience throughout the region.
Hanane Taidi, Director General at TIC Council commented: “Africa holds tremendous potential for sustainable growth, and TIC Council is excited to take a leading role in facilitating this transformation. Through this new Committee, we aim to leverage our global expertise to support the continent in achieving its social, economic, environmental, and digital aspirations. For this reason, we eagerly anticipate a fruitful cooperation aimed at fostering a robust quality infrastructure environment across Africa.”
Following the successful establishment of TIC Council China, the association is confident that, by expanding its reach and engagement with national and regional stakeholders in the African region, it will significantly raise awareness about the indispensable role and expertise of the TIC sector as a provider of third-party conformity assessment services, playing a pivotal role in ensuring safety, quality, and compliance. Members of the TIC Council employ approximately 16,000 experts throughout the continent.
The Committee will be led by Bertrand Martin, Senior Vice-President for Africa at Bureau Veritas, with the other members of the committee coming from APAVE, Applus+, Intertek, SGS, TÜV Rheinland and Vallis Group.
Bertrand Martin, Chairman of the Committee said: "the establishment of the Africa Committee within the TIC Council is a pivotal milestone in promoting excellence, compliance, and safety for both goods and individuals across our continent. With a strong focus on product and service quality, as well as the fostering of skills development, innovation, and regional cooperation, the Africa Committee of the TIC Council is unwavering in its commitment to support Africa in achieving safe, sustainable and responsible progress. Our goal is to facilitate trade across the entire continent while ensuring the highest standards of quality and safety are upheld, thus contributing to the prosperity and well-being of our continent”.
The Africa Committee members and the TIC industry at large are committed to the principles of ethics and compliance in their activities and operations in African countries. They look forward to cooperating with national and regional authorities, as well as with all stakeholders in the quality infrastructure ecosystem, from accreditation bodies, standards development organisations and market surveillance authorities. They aim to discuss the continuous improvement of market conditions in Africa and the role of the TIC sector in ensuring a fair and safe twin digital and environmental transition on the continent.