ECOWAS is reinforcing its commitment to regional integration and the free movement of persons and goods by advancing the harmonization of safer standards and operational procedures in aviation across West Africa. This initiative is being spearheaded through an Experts Validation Workshop on Aviation Security (AVSEC) Regulation, organized by the Transport Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission in Lagos, Nigeria, in preparation of an Air Transport Ministers meeting on AVSEC and the reduction of taxes, charges and fees which makes the region one of the most expensive, in terms of air travels.

The three-day workshop, which held from September 4th – 6th 2024, brought together aviation security experts from ECOWAS Member States, the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the Banjul Accord Group for Safety Oversight Organisation (BAGASOO), ICAO Certified Auditors, and the ECOWAS Commission. This gathering is a crucial step advancing an important component of the ongoing project of support to the air transport industry in West and Central Africa, under the ECOWAS Air Transport Improvement Program.

Aviation Security Experts at the meeting reviewed and finalized the draft regional regulations that align with the latest amendments to the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (ICAO-SARPs) while taking on board the broader objectives of facilitating Air travels within the West African region. Additionally, the Experts drafted a framework for the establishment and operation of an AVSEC pool as well as an Action Plan for its realisation. The recommendations from this workshop will be presented to sector ministers for endorsement and subsequently to the ECOWAS.

The main purpose of the ECOWAS Regional AVSEC regulation is to establish a harmonized regulatory framework for the safety of passengers, crew, ground personnel, and the general public against acts of unlawful interference. Specifically, the regulation provides measures to prevent weapons, explosives, or other dangerous devices which can be used to commit harm, providing a uniform interpretation and application of the ICAO Chicago Convention especially Annex 9 on “Facilitation” and Annex 17 on “Security” Once adopted by the ECOWAS Governing Bodies, ECOWAS will work with Member States, to set up AVSEC Pool Experts, trained with standardized tools to ensure consistent implementation across the region.

In his welcome address, Mr. Chris Appiah, the Acting Director of Transport at the ECOWAS Commission, emphasized the significance of a harmonized AVSEC regulation to the aviation industry in West Africa. He highlighted the urgency of validating the proposed regulations, which will govern air transport security and safety across the region.

Mr. Appiah also highlighted other ongoing ECOWAS’s interventions aimed at improving air transport operations and making air travel more affordable. He noted the collaboration with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to develop a strategy that aims to reduce air transport costs to community citizens by addressing issues such as excessive charges and taxation, which contribute to high ticket prices.

Furthermore, Mr. Appiah disclosed that ECOWAS is in discussions with major aircraft manufacturers to assist airlines in reducing aircraft maintenance costs. This will be achieved through the establishment of a regional air Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) centre to localize aircraft maintenance in the region to help airlines reduce costs of accessing such services abroad. In the area of Airports, the ECOWAS airport master plan will be implemented to enhance operations and activities at regional airports.

Representing ICAO, Mr. Ademola Oladele praised ECOWAS for bringing Member States together to finalize the regional regulations, which is a key step in implementing the project to improve the air transport industry in West and Central Africa. He reaffirmed ICAO’s commitment to supporting the successful execution of the ECOWAS AVSEC Program.

In a statement on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria, Dr. Bernard O. C. Omogo, the Director of Aviation Security&Facilitation at the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), urged participants to put forth their best recommendations. He emphasized that these recommendations, when implemented, would enhance and ensure the highest level of performance in aviation security operations within the region. Dr. Omogo highlighted that aviation security is essential and serves as the foundation for achieving the International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) vision of sustainable, safe, and secure air transportation.

The validated final versions of the Regulation, Framework, and Action Plan will be presented at the Sector Ministerial Meeting scheduled for November 2024 for endorsement. Following this, the endorsed versions will be submitted to the ECOWAS Council of Ministers for final adoption in December 2024.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

The Transport Directorate of the ECOWAS Commission is hosting a 3-day technical validation workshop for the Detailed Design Study (DDS) of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway in Lagos, Nigeria, from Wednesday, 11th September to Friday, 13th September 2024.

The Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project (ALCHDP) aims to construct a 6-lane dual carriage highway from Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, through Ghana, Togo, Benin to Lagos in Nigeria. The five Corridor Countries have entrusted the ECOWAS Commission as the Implementing Agency in the interim, to design, procure, mobilize financing and construct the Highway. In the long term, a supra-national Corridor Authority, known as the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Management Authority (ALCOMA) which will be operationalized to take over the project on behalf of the corridor Countries.

The first Phase of this Project involves among other things, alignment definition and feasibility and preliminary designs studies for the 1,028km road which was completed by the three Engineering Design Consultants and validated by the Corridor Member States in November 2022, after a substantial delay because of the COVID-19 pandemic. These firms went on to develop the Detailed Design of the Highway.

Project Directors and Engineers from the five Corridor Member Countries accompanied Engineers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) including the Project Unit and Technical Assistants to hold initial technical reviews of the Detailed Design Reports and Drawings within the context of the broader corridor objectives and the specific country peculiarities. These were done through national-level pre-validation workshops across the five (5) Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Member States of Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire from June 18 to 24, 2024.

The Reports and recommendations from the national pre-validation workshops have been collated and consolidated with comments from the ECOWAS Technical Assistance team and will form the basis for the validation of the Detailed Design of the entire Abidjan Lagos Corridor Highway.

This final technical validation workshop marks a crucial phase in concluding the technical studies of the project’s development and will involve an extensive technical validation session, where the Project Directors and Engineers of the five (5) participating Corridor Member Countries (CMCs) will review and grant their final approval to the Detailed Design Studies (DDS) and Technical Specifications essential for advancing the development of the Highway Project to the next stage.

This Technical Validation Workshop will have in attendance engineers from the Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the Abidjan Lagos Corridor Highway Development Project, the Directorates of Transport and Environment, of the ECOWAS Commission, the ECOWAS Project Preparation and Development Unit (PPDU) and the CEP, Representatives of Ministries in charge of Infrastructure, Project focal point, Directors and Corridor Member Country (CMC) Engineers, who are members of the PIU of Corridor Member Countries (CMCs), Development Partners and Stakeholders including African Development Bank and European Union.

Also in attendance will be project Engineering Consultants comprising SETEC International, PEARL Consultants, SCET Tunisie and SOFRECO the Technical Assistant to the ALCHDP and the media

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

A headteacher who had to quit his job after a melon-size tumor grew on his face was greeted with open arms as he returned to the classroom after receiving transformational surgery from charity Mercy Ships (www.MercyShips.org).

Grandfather Auguste, 64, spent six long years away from his school in Senegal after the tumor forced to him to leave as it expanded from a spot to the large growth over 13 years.

Auguste found the tumor distracted his students from lessons, but he became a recluse after quitting the job he loved so much. His neighbors treated him badly fearing his condition was contagious.

“All of my activities have stopped. I don’t really do anything,” said Auguste.

Past retirement age anyway, it was obvious to everyone who met him that Auguste was not teaching for the money. He had sought for decades to instill “the intellectual capacity to be able to rule the country” in his students, viewing each one as “a person who will be someone tomorrow.” 

Auguste searched unsuccessfully far and wide for years to receive surgical care – until the day he heard that international hospital ship charity Mercy Ships had come to the port of Dakar, only 10 miles from his home in 2023. 

American otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat) surgeon Dr. Josh Wiederman met and operated on Auguste during his first week volunteering for Mercy Ships.

He said: “This type of condition is seen in high-income countries like the United States but in very early stages. With routine dental examination X-rays, these types of lesions are picked up before they really can be seen from the outside.” 

Dr. Wiederman explained that although Auguste only noticed the tumor at age 51: “Auguste would have developed it somewhere in the second or third decade of his life, and it comes from the enamel of the tooth within the mandible, and it will slowly grow over time, but you can think of it like blowing up a balloon.”

He continued: “There’s a lot of resistance early on, and then at a certain point, that resistance is overcome, and it starts to expand quickly with little force.” 

By the time he boarded the ship, Auguste was experiencing many physical repercussions from his tumor. Eating textured foods had become difficult, and he could only speak out of the corner of his mouth.

The sheer mass of the tumor also made it difficult for him to rest his head comfortably, so he was sleep-deprived. Although the condition seemed to have plateaued, Dr. Wiederman did not take this stability for granted. 

Dr. Wiederman said: “This is a really unfortunate tumor that really must be treated. It will always grow. It really doesn’t burn out, so it will continue to consume more and more of the mandible bone,” he said. “Eventually, that can cause difficulty eating or breathing and become a life-threatening issue.” 

Although the international volunteer nurses on board the world largest civilian hospital ship the Global Mercy™ noted how agreeable Auguste was, he admitted afterward that it was not easy: “You have to open up yourself, then someone can help you—and you have helped me.” 

When he finally went into the operating room for surgery, Auguste was giddy with excitement to get his life back. 

Return to His Calling 

It was on the Global Mercy that Auguste saw his face in the mirror tumor-free for the first time in 13 years. 

Six weeks later, Auguste was discharged from the floating hospital, and he went home to his wife Claire, as well as their adult children and young grandchildren.

Walking freely around the neighborhood, he was greeted with happiness and disbelief. “I can’t explain their reactions when they saw me after the surgery,” he said. “I was well welcomed—very well received.” 

Starting his next chapter, Auguste saw a world of possibilities. He was now dreaming of opening new schools “in order to reduce unemployment” where needed across Senegal. “As soon as I am healed,” he said. 

But when Auguste returned to his elementary school for the first time in six years, he found that he was exactly where he needed to be. 

Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye, who had succeeded Auguste as headmaster, said: “We’re very happy to have him back at school because we didn’t know what to do; we’ve waited for so long.

”The most vulnerable kids—he used to go to their homes to help them. He was giving home classes for free.” 

Auguste found that nobody had taken up his mantle of going above and beyond to be “in constant contact with the parents,” so the kids who needed more motivation were dropping out of school.

“When I went back, I noticed that the school was very quiet,” Auguste said. “The number of students has decreased. There’s no longer any atmosphere.” 

Auguste still has his sights set on opening other schools in the future, starting with one in Senegal’s second-biggest city of Touba.

For Auguste, his calling is clear: “I’m only here to help underprivileged and orphaned children—to teach them if I have the means.” 

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mercy Ships.

For more Information about Mercy Ships, contact:
Sophie Barnett
Mercy Ships International PR Manager
international.media@mercyships.org

About Mercy Ships:  
Mercy Ships operates hospital ships that deliver free surgeries and other healthcare services to those with little access to safe medical care. An international faith-based organization, Mercy Ships has focused entirely on partnering with African nations for the past three decades. Working with in-country partners, Mercy Ships also provides training to local healthcare professionals and supports the construction of in-country medical infrastructure to leave a lasting impact.   

Each year, more than 3,000 volunteer professionals from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy® and the Global Mercy™. Professionals such as surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, and engineers dedicate their time and skills to accelerate access to safe surgical, obstetric and anesthetic care. Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has offices in 16 countries as well as an Africa Service Center in Dakar, Senegal. For more information, visit MercyShips.org and follow @ MercyShips on social media.  

The 2024 Basketball Africa League (BAL) champion (http://apo-opa.co/3B14HVx) (https://BAL.NBA.com/) Petro de Luanda (Angola) will participate in the 2024 FIBA Intercontinental Cup at the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore from Sept. 12-15, 2024.

Petro de Luanda will compete in Group A alongside Europe’s Basketball Champions League (BCL) winner Unicaja from Spain and BCL Asia winner Al Riyadi from Lebanon.  Group B will feature BCL Americas winner Quimsa from Argentina, NBA G League United (http://apo-opa.co/4dXMWVA), a U.S. team comprised of select G League prospects and stars, and Australia’s National Basketball League (NBL) champion Tasmania JackJumpers.  The tournament marks the first time a BCL Asia champion and a team from Oceania are represented.

The three teams in each group will compete in round-robin play over the first three days of the tournament, with the top team in each group advancing to the final on Sept. 15.  Prior to the final game, the remaining four teams will play in the classification games.  

Petro de Luanda earned a spot in the 34th edition of the tournament after defeating Libya’s Al Ahly Ly 107-94 to win the 2024 BAL Championship, which took place at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda, and reached fans in 214 countries and territories in 17 languages.  Petro de Luanda, the 2022 BAL runner-up and one of two teams to have participated in all four BAL seasons, is the first sub-Saharan African team to win the BAL Finals after previous champions from Egypt and Tunisia.  

Seven players who were part of the 2024 BAL championship-winning team (http://apo-opa.co/4gkngnJ) will be playing at this year’s FIBA Intercontinental Cup.  In addition, 2024 BAL All-Defensive Team member and two-time BAL champion with Zamalek (2021) and US Monastir (2022) Souleyman Diabate recently joined the team from Libya’s Al Ahly Ly and Egyptian center Patrick Gardner joined from Egypt’s Al Ahly.  Gardner played with the NBA G League’s Long Island Nets, a team he helped to reach the 2024 NBA G League Eastern Conference Semifinals.  Born in the U.S. to an Egyptian mother and an American father, Gardner made his debut for the Egyptian National Team at the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. 

Petro de Luanda went 5-2 during the Kalahari Conference group phase in Pretoria, South Africa, and the Playoffs, defeating Senegal’s AS Douanes and South Africa’s Cape Town Tigers in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, to advance to the Finals.

This marks the fourth consecutive year that a reigning BAL champion will participate in the FIBA Intercontinental Cup, following Zamalek (Egypt) in 2021, US Monastir (Tunisia) in 2022, and Al Ahly (Egypt) in 2023.

Petro de Luanda will play its first game on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 8:00 p.m. (GMT +8:00) against Unicaja.  Their second game will take place on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 4:00 p.m. (GMT +8:00), where they will face Al Riyadi.

The games will be broadcast* on the official page of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2024 (http://apo-opa.co/4dZ0vEk).

*Geographical restrictions may apply to some regions.

2024 BAL Playoffs and Finals Recap Video  (Credit: BAL) (https://apo-opa.co/3MFNMu6)

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Basketball Africa League (BAL).