- News
Improved quality infrastructure increases added value for African companies
08.04.2019 The first "International Quality Infrastructure Forum" took place in Brussels on 4 April 2019. It was organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the African Union Commission. Standardisation and accredited testing facilitates market access for African products in Western markets and integration into global value chains. The experience exchange showed the possibilities for African economies and their contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Jonas Breidenbach from the Center for Development and Cooperation CDC of the BFH took part in the panel discussion dealing with the question "How sustainability standards and related quality infrastructure services steer the private sector contribution to the SDGs". As a consultant to UNIDO, the CDC in Ghana helped setting up the Wood and Furniture Testing Centre (WFTC) at the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana and introducing corresponding standards. The testing laboratory was opened in 2018. At the Forum, Jonas Breidenbach, who was the project manager in the Ghana project, shared his experience in laboratory accreditation according ISO 17025 and the establishment of standards committees with among others representatives of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCATD), the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) and the Standards Quality and Infrastructure Division of UNIDO.
Center for Development and Cooperation CDC
The Center for Development and Cooperation CDC is active in emerging and developing countries in the fields of architecture, timber and construction. We follow the capacity development approach, i.e. we support and advise the actors involved in expanding their ability to use resources effectively and efficiently and thus achieve their own sustainable goals.
