General Assembly 2024 in Tunis, a well-filled mandate

During the General Assembly (GA) of U-3ARC which takes place on November 7, 8 and 9, 2024 in Tunis, on the theme "Refrigeration unites Africa for its development", the Executive Board of U-3ARC presented its assessment of the mandate (September 202-September 2024).

Editorial Staff

U-3ARC inexorably continues on its way. In Tunis, the General Assembly, which closes a mandate, is an opportunity to take stock of the main achievements and to emphasize the points to be energized.

After a vibrant tribute to the illustrious members who passed away in the various associations of U-3ARC, namely Mrs. Charity Kpabep (08/21/2021) and Mr. Alouia Redouane (11/02/2020), and prayed for the repose of their souls, the participants who reached the quorum worked on the major stages of the mandate.

Starting from the Constitutive Assembly on September 24, 2020 in Ouagadougou, during which the newly elected Bureau was received by the President of the Republic, HE Roch Marc Kaboré, at the Palace, then from the reminder of the organization chart and the establishment of 5 working groups by the Technical Committee (Training, Laws and Standards, Refrigerants and Technologies, Projects and Promotion of Human Capital, Sustainable African Technology) and 2 other specific ones (Press, Ladies Team), the outgoing Executive Bureau dwelt on a long litany of achievements.

A Bureau that has not been idle

From the first achievements, relating to the official communication of the existence of the U-3ARC to the authorities of the member countries, to the definition of the conditions of partnership with international institutions, to the creation of the group of Women in the refrigeration sector within the U-3ARC, to the creation of a U-3ARC website and its channels in social networks, to the production of a bi-monthly Newsletter and news at the service of the RAC in Africa, the Executive Bureau returned to the efforts of federating national associations. From only 38 associations, on April 21, 2021, these efforts made it possible to cover the continent, on December 20 of the same year.

In terms of census of technicians, despite the multiple and frequent reminders of the platform and methods, only a little more than 5000 were counted. Regarding training, 36 webinars, covering several themes, were completed. These are remote and face-to-face training sessions, certifying, 03 of which were carried out in Italy on the handling of flammable fluids and good practices in refrigeration, respectively from May 29 to June 9, 2023, from November 13 to 16, 2023 and from May 13 to 17, 2024.

In terms of partnerships, MoUs and collaborations concluded, those already signed with AREA (June 2021), AMEE (September 2022), IIR (June 2023), WRD (November 2023), CSG (March 2024) or in progress with ASHRAE were presented. In this same aspect of collaborations, the Executive Board represented U-3ARC and participated in around twenty international Meetings around the world. He also took part in the AREA General Meeting, in the consultations for the organization of the World Refrigeration Day WRD, in the events of the National Ozone Offices in member countries, contributed to the AGENDA AFRICA 2063, to the meeting of ozone coordinators (UNEP) from September 3 to 7, 2022 in Kenya/Nairobi, to the OEWG 45 Thailand/Bangkok from July 3 to 7, 2023, to the European conference of June 2023 in Milan/Italy, to the Chillventa NürnbergMesse from October 8 to 10, 2024, to the 46th OEWG Meeting in Montreal from July 8 to 12, 2024, to the AREA General Assembly in Belfast from Thursday 23 and Friday 24 May 2024, to the ASHRAE Conference in Chicago: From January 20 to 24 2024, as well as at the IOR (Institute of Refrigeration) Annual Gala Dinner in London on Thursday 22nd February 2024 and at various exhibitions, such as Refrigera in Italy, Refrigair Expo Morocco.

In the wake of these partnerships, U-3ARC envisions that there will be production units on the continent, training centers for the certification of its members on the continent, a U-3ARC training academy, as well as several types of awards for the RAC sector in Africa.

Each year, a number of activities are on the U-3ARC agenda. These include the organization of annual AGMs (Burkina Faso in 2021, Morocco 2022, Burkina Faso in 2023, Tunisia in 2024), the celebration of the World Refrigeration Days (WRD), the celebration of the African Refrigeration Days (JAR), the Dr Charity Kpabep Awards Competition (Dedicated to African Women Technicians), training webinars, certification sessions, a Newsletter (Bi-monthly). It was rightly recalled at the AGM in Tunis that U-3ARC, a founding member of INWIC (International Network of Women in Cooling), initiated the Charity Kpabep Award, the first distinction for Women in Refrigeration that inspires many other institutions, such as AREA in Europe.

Major projects

Achievements that match the ambition of a program of activities, set up from the beginning. Let us recall that these activities ranged from "taking stock of the situation, through a census of refrigeration professionals in each of the U-3ARC member countries, on the one hand, and assessing their level of practice of the profession, on the other hand", to "taking all appropriate measures to motivate women to take an interest in the refrigeration and air conditioning profession", through "proceeding to the succinct development of the state of teaching, operation, and technology of refrigeration and air conditioning, in each of the member countries", "contacting the political and administrative authorities of each member country to bring U-3ARC to their attention, by presenting the association and its constitutive documents", "bringing countries already having a National Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Association to join U-3ARC", "helping countries not yet having a National Association to create one and encourage their membership in U-3ARC", "restructuring at the African level, the collaboration national associations with the respective departments of the environment and climate”, “develop capacity building programs in the field of refrigeration and air conditioning for African refrigeration engineers, periodically, each year”. This vast program of activities also included “defining the modalities and helping associations organize certification exams for refrigeration engineers in each member country in collaboration with public structures”, “working towards the development of regulations for the profession in all its dimensions”, “using the photos of all members (hundreds) by making a 90-second video with a start message, scrolling 2 photos/second and an end message, to be relayed by all members on social networks until it goes viral”, “a single video message said by each President, the duration of which does not exceed 10 seconds, grouped into a single video, with a start message and an end message”, and “using the Union logo in their WhatsApp and Facebook profile photos, for a specific duration”. It appears from the financial report that U-3ARC only has €2,555.66 in the bank, or €1,673,959, once the expenses of the 2024 AGM have been deducted. The opportunity was taken to encourage regular contributions from national associations.

Chapters to be revitalized

Among the various points to be revitalized, U-3ARC intends to emphasize a revival of activities by coordinators and their deputies by group, and the invitation of experts to the training teams. The AGM recommends more dynamism in the census of technicians and the collection of data in the sector.

As for the situation of the associations of Refrigeration Professionals in the SADC countries (Namibia-Zambia-Zimbabwe-South Africa), U-3ARC intends to continue its missions, effective work and move forward in a spirit of solidarity. Several sessions are currently taking place, Friday, November 8, with partners and within the Election Committee of a new Executive Board for a new term. On-site visits are planned tomorrow, Saturday, November 9, as well as trips to Tunisian tourist sites.

Regarding the Agenda on 2025, the discussions focused on the next AGM, the Dr. Charity Kpabep Award, the WRD and ARD, training and the Bi-monthly Newsletter.