The African Water Association (AfWA) organized a benchmarking mission in ONEA (National Office of Water and Sanitation) and LSNP (National Laboratory of Public Health) in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from November 1st to 4th, 2017. This visit brought together delegates from four (04) laboratories from three (03) countries: CDE - water utility of Cameroon, National Office for Drinking Water (ONEP) - Côte d'Ivoire, SODECI - water utility of Côte d'Ivoire and SEG - water utility of Guinea.

This mission was part of the peer- to- peer learning process aimed to share good practices in the field of water quality control. During this visit, presentations and field visits provided an opportunity for participants to learn about ONEA's experience in quality control and management of water standards on the institutional, regulatory and legislative as well as operational and managerial frameworks for the water sector in Burkina Faso (Water Code of Burkina Faso, etc.). The reason for choosing this country is that during the past ten years, the Central Laboratory of the National Office of Water and Sanitation (ONEA) implemented a number of initiatives in the field of water quality control. These include: Water Operators' Partnerships (WOPs), partnerships with water utilities in Europe (Walloon Region) and Morocco (National Office of Electricity and Water - ONEE), as well as other utilities in Africa (Benin, Togo, Chad, Burundi). Moreover, ONEA benefits from the expertise of the National Laboratory of Public Health (LNSP) of Burkina Faso, which has the most innovative technical equipment for controlling water quality; this gives the Central Laboratory of ONEA valuable and proven experience in the areas of water quality analysis and standard management. Based on these considerations, AfWA involved ONEA as mentor for AfriCap program and especially for AfriCap Component 3 focused on improving water quality control by operators involved.

Out of the two-days learning, participants expressed their overall satisfaction and readiness to share and implement some of the good practices learned from ONEA upon returning to their respective countries.

For details on AfriCap, please contact:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., AfriCap Program Coordinator

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Director of Programs and Professional Development.