The Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), Professor Alex Dodoo has been sworn-in as the President of the African Organization for Standardization (ARSO).
This was revealed at the 28th General Assembly of the continental standards body in Yaounde, Cameroun, on 30th June, 2022.
He will succeed Charles Booto à Ngon of Cameroon after a one-year term at the intercontinental body in-charge of standards harmonization.
In his inauguration speech, Prof Dodoo thanked the ARSO General Assembly for the trust and confidence reposed in him to lead the organization.
“I am delighted and privileged to serve as ARSO President. I will give it my all and rely on your support to prosecute our mandate of using standards to transform our countries and our continent,” Prof Dodoo said at the inauguration in Yaounde, Cameroon.
Prof. Alex Dodoo takes office at a time when Africa is pushing to increase intra-trade and deepen economic integration through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
“Our main objective is to leverage the image and position of ARSO and the ARSO Presidency to change the narrative by expanding intra-Africa trade within the purview of the AfCFTA, as well as to improve trading in Made in Africa goods locally, regionally and globally,” he said.
Prof. Dodoo emerged as the choice of all the member-states on the back of his vision to rapidly harmonize standards on the continent, while leveraging on the proximity of AfCFTA secretariat being in Accra to further the aims of ARSO.
He promised that his tenure would focus on three key areas: partner global organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization to develop standards, focus on key growth areas, and ensure ARSO plays a vital role in job creation.
“We can no longer be standards takers but developers too. We will be part of the development process so that the standards meet our specifications,” Prof Dodoo said.
In a brief remark, a Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi said the continent’s ambitious trade deal (AfCFTA) has magnified the need for standards to be regionally harmonized to promote intra-trade.
“ARSO has a huge task of ensuring that the AfCFTA is meaningful. And the only way we can increase intra-African trade is for us to harmonize our standards to facilitate cross-border trade. So therefore, the new leadership must work harder to change the narrative,” the New Juaben South lawmaker said.
The clinical scientist, who doubles as ARSO’s Goodwill Ambassador to the AfCFTA secretariat, will serve between 2022 and 2025.