Pan African geological career building project starts with Windhoek
A Pan African project to train geoscientific staff through the development of an innovative training programme will begin with its first training course organised by the Geoscientific Knowledge and Skills in African Geological Surveys (PanAfGeo) project soon.
Speaking at the project launch in Windhoek, the President of the Organisation of African Geological Surveys, Alex Ndubuisi Nwegbu said that the meeting is a milestone of close cooperation between African and European geological surveys.
With the project’s support by several high-level partners, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Hon Obeth Kandjoze congratulated the project managers for taking the PanAfGeo concept from idea to implementation.
The first phase of the project which will run for three years focuses on several training components such as geoscience mapping, mineral resources assessment, artisanal and small-scale mining and the environmental management of mines coupled with geohazards studies. Further modules will cover geoheritage and geoinformation management.
The Pan African Geological Knowledge project will ensure that the number of trained African geoscientists increase, and that the competence of those employed by Geological Surveys improve. Kandjoze pointed to the project’s importance saying this training will help to resolve many essential issues facing the world today.
“It is a collaboration between the African Union represented by the Organisation of African Geological Surveys (OAGS) and the European Union represented by the EuroGeoSurveys (EGS), Ndubuisi said, adding that the project implementation is based on the outcome and recommendations of joint EGS/OAGS feasibility studies completed in 2015 on the “Geoscientific Knowledge and Skills in African Geological Surveys.”
“The African Geological Surveys contribute sturdily to the development of African mineral resources and participation in the value chain to industrialise African countries, and improv the standard of living of the African people” according to the minister. The training of the staff of the various African Geological Surveys is more critical than ever in addressing socio-economic needs and challenges, he stated.
The PanAfGeo project is coordinated by the French Geological Survey and mainly financed by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Development and Cooperation. In-kind contributions come from the participating members of the Organisation of African Geological Surveys (OAGS) and Euro Geo Surveys (EGS).
