On the margin of the WASCAL Science Symposium, The Minister of Higher Education and Research of the Republic of Mali, Prof. Amadou Keita, who is also WASCAL Ministerial Council Chair, has paid a one-day visit to the Competence Centre in Ouagadougou. He was accompanied by Prof. Christoph Röevekamp, Head of Energy and Green Hydrogen Technologies Division and Dr. Moumini Savadogo, WASCAL Executive Director.
Dr. Savadogo, in his welcome address expressed gratitude to Prof. Amadou Keita for this historical visit. The Executive Director of WASCAL indicated that the visit reflects the ministerial chairman’s commitment and willingness to making WASCAL an institution of reference. He then commended the staff both from the competence Centre and the headquarters for the excellent work done and urged them to be good ambassadors for WASCAL.
‘’Each of us is an ambassador for WASCAL. We are a team, and we must work together to keep WASCAL’s sun shining’’. He spoke
For Prof. Christoph Röevekamp, WASCAL is a success story. He outlined some important milestones in the history of WASCAL and called on to work towards making WASCAL a key player in the sub-region.
‘’Last year was the starting point of important moments for me. First there was the laying of the foundation stone of the Competence Centre, then the Council of Ministers. Also, in recognition of its special contribution to sustainable development in the sub-region, WASCAL has been awarded best Allies of ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) at the ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Forum (ESEF 2022) in Abuja.’’
It is a sign that WASCAL is growing and spreading throughout the sub-region and even beyond. He said.
Prof. Christoph Röevekamp added that WASCAL should work towards being the number one in the sub-region and the anchor point for institutions such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the European Union, the African Union, etc.
Prof. Keita, expressed gratitude for the warm welcome and highly appreciated the team and constructive spirit that prevailed among staff and pledged his support to mobilize the rest of his colleague Ministers from West Africa to give WASCAL the position it deserves. Prof. Keita also expressed his gratitude to the German Federal Ministery of Education and Research for the continuously renewed partnership and support to governments within the sub-region.
‘’WASCAL has a bright future, WASCAL will be one of the most important and lead Institutions from the sub-region in the fight against Climate Change. I will do everything possible to mobilize my colleagues of the respective member states of WASCAL to push the agenda of WASCAL forward. I can assure you of my full support, both political and institutional, in strengthening WASCAL’s leadership position in the sub-region.’’ He spoke.
To get more information about the Competence Centre, the delegation, led by the Director of Research, Prof. Kehinde Ogunjobi, visited facilities including the High-Performance Computing Data Centre, the GIS LAB and the meteorological satellite- West Africa (EUMETSAT-West Africa). Prof. Ogunjobi also made a presentation cutting across new and on-going projects, number of publications by scientists, challenges as well as perspectives for the Competence Centre.