By Danmaryam Zayamu
The Director-General of Nigeria National Accreditation System (NiNAS), Celestine O. Okanya, has been elected as the Chairman, Pan African Quality Infrastructure (PAQI).
PAQI is the African Union Joint Committee on Quality Infrastructure.
Okanya will be assuming the chairmanship role in March, 2020.
It would be recalled that PAQI was officially inaugurated on August 30, 2013, by the Director for Trade and Industry, African Union Commission, where members comprising of the African Accreditation Cooperation (AFRAC), the Intra-Africa Metrology System (AFRIMETS), the African Electro-technical Standardisation Commission (AFSEC) and the African Organisation for Standardisation (ARSO) formalized their cooperation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The Mission of PAQI is to strengthen the regional and global competitiveness of Africa’s goods and services and contribute towards an improved quality of life for the African people through prudent use of standards, measurements, conformity assessment and accreditation.
PAQI will be very instrumental to defining the conformity assessments, harmonized standards and meteorological traceability of traded goods and services in implementation of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement.
One of the ways PAQI strive to achieve its mission is through the development and implementation of African policies on standards, measurement, conformity assessment and accreditation that supports the realization of Africa’s economic integration and environmental sustainability.
Celestine is also the President of ECOWAS Regional Accreditation System. He oversees the implementation of a harmonized system of accreditation of conformity assessment bodies.
A statement by the Head, ICT and Media of NiNAS explained that Celestine had served in the Nigerian Army, Academia, and also led a couple of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Nigeria and United States.
According to the statement, NiNAS is confident that Celestine will make remarkable impact in his new assignment.
