TWF- AFRICA’S MASTER KEY TO CAPACITY BUILDING IN WELDING TECHNOLOGIES ACROSS HER MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES

Africa is gradually emerging into one-economy, one-industry continent, with the establishment of the free trade zone pact. Realities of undeniable shared burdens and opportunities across African member states is bringing to light the burning need for effective and efficient collaborating in solving her problems from a continental perspective. Africa’s problems centre mostly on her inability to develop economic solutions via improved and sustainable manufacturing processes.

Manufacturing across the continent has grown considerably in the last few decades, owing to increasing exploration and exploitation of natural resources. Unfortunately, the increasing manufacturing activities has had very minimal impact on Africa’s GDP owing to several socioeconomic factors, most critical being the lack of a properly coordinated approach to the management of manufacturing and its processes such as welding.

TWF is positioned as the continental body committed to championing activities in the science and application of joining technologies, providing a forum for networking and knowledge exchange among scientists, researchers, industry, educators and practitioners and disseminating leading-edge information on best practices to improve manufacturing competitiveness across the continent.

The management board of TWF comprises representatives across West, East, North and Southern Africa. It also boasts membership spanning across South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Ghana, Namibia, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Libya and Nigeria.

TWF has a clearly defined mission to complement activities of the International Institute of Welding (IIW) by meshing Africa into a manageable resource pool with an enhanced knowledge of the power of welding engineering & related technologies to change Africa’s underdevelopment and unemployment narratives. It aims at aligning ideas, contributing resources and engaging Africa’s best brains towards improving knowledge and developing competitive skills across member states to ensure job creation and employment opportunities in Africa for Africans, managed by Africans for the benefit of Africans, and in addition, create a functional research platform for industrialization of Africa

TWF objectives include:

• To promote Goals, Policies, Systems and Programs for the development of Welding Technology in Africa and to work towards harmonization of personnel training, examination and certification systems in Africa.
• To promote collaboration among African countries, in all matters of common interest relating to the development and use of welding technology.
• To be the representative for Africa in the international welding community with active participation at all formal IIW meetings, Policy and General Purpose Committee meetings.
• To encourage the formation of welding societies, including national welding bodies in countries where such organizations do not exist.
• To encourage and participate in regional research and development activities.
• To provide a platform for the organized exchange of scientific and technical information and provide an environment to encourage and sustain the transfer of knowledge and technology through adaptive and innovative research in Africa.

• Establish a system of honorary awards to recognize exceptional contributions made to Welding in Africa by organizations and individuals.

TWF offers that specific platform, a one stop hub for interaction amongst asset owners, workforce managers and policy makers to grow knowledge and application experience of welding technology in skills creation and manufacturing. TWF is the crucial vehicle for social equity, inclusion, and a tool for driving and sustaining competitive manufacturing, enhancing productivity and uniformly reducing poverty across member states via increased skills development leading to job creation specifically across Oil and Gas, Energy , Transportation , Automotive and Agricultural Equipment industries in Africa.