In mid-September, Department 9.3 became a meeting place for all of the experts who regularly work for PTB in Africa and the Middle East and the employees of the “North Africa and Middle East” and “Sub-Saharan Africa” working groups. Within the scope of the “Regional days – Africa and the Middle East”, there was an…
PTB published a study about the role of quality infrastructure for climate change in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study analyzes the contribution and significance of quality infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa for both climate change mitigation and adaptation to climate change. At the same time, the study analyses the potentials, opportunities and chances in different sectors. You…
The Edeka Görge supermarkets in Braunschweig are testing a pilot project for six months that enables customers to pay an additional 20 cents by using a tag on the pineapple. This voluntary bonus payment is transferred by a payment system called “XtraPay” directly to the farmer via Mobile Money. Mobile Money is a transparent system…
Precisely 1,350 grams of sand, 450 grams of cement and 225 grams of water are carefully weighed, mixed according to a strict procedure and poured into a test container. The sequence for adding the “ingredients” is just as important as exactly following with the specified times. After drying, the strength of the cement can be…
A set of weights from 1 g to 500 g is only one of several metrological artefacts representing one of four quantities that will go on tour over the next few months. The round trip these artefacts will take through southern Africa to visit different countries and laboratories will be of a somewhat different kind.…
Aristide Nguedeu’s careful examination of calibration certificates and a discussion with those in charge of the visited labs to understand their needs: that is a typical scene from the regional metrology network CEMACMET’s experts tour through the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) in the spring of 2018. The tour served the purpose of…
Access to clean water has officially been a human right since 2010. But how can you detect contaminants in water? And who detects the germs in the water that are often invisible? Testing laboratories play a key role when it comes to successfully and reliably testing the quality of water. In the Southern African Development…
Nods of appreciation at the construction site and closer looks at bricks: More than 30 African cement experts were impressed by the cutting-edge cement mix facility at a construction site in Cameroonian Yaoundé. Later, the group of experts visited a brick factory belonging to the Cameroonian Mission for the Promotion of Local Materials (MIPROMALO). This…
We have entered the thematic year »African Year of Quality Infrastructure« with intense, exciting film work from East Africa: The film »Quality for Africa – how to trust the invisible« originates from there. One question was at the centre of this for us: How can people trust in the quality of something if they can’t…
Ministerial Conference: 2017 is the Year of Quality Infrastructure in Africa During the 9th Conference of African Union Ministers of Trade, the year 2017 was declared to be the African Year of Quality Infrastructure. This sober-sounding resolution signifies a high level of recognition: quality infrastructure (QI) – which is otherwise almost invisible – is now…