In the month of July, 2024 ACE-CEFOR took part in the 4th West Africa Centres of Excellence on Energy Network (WACEENET) Regional Symposium, which took place from Monday, July 22 to Friday July 26, 2024, at the University of Lome, Togo Republic. The theme of the symposium was “Energy Transition and Social Justice: Universal Access to Energy”. The opening ceremony of the symposium featured opening remarks by Dr Bokovi Yao, Director, Centre d’Excellence Régional pour la Maîtrise de l’Electricité (CERME), Togo; a goodwill message from the WACEENET Coordinator and Centre Leader, Regional Centre of Excellence on Energy and Sustainability (RCEES), Ghana, Rev. Prof. Ing. Eric Ofosu Antwi and a keynote address by Prof. Batawila Komlan, Vice-President, University of Lome, Togo.
The symposium also featured academic faculty presentations by staff of the five Centres of WACEENET on the theme of the symposium. ACE-CEFOR Deputy Centre Leader, Dr. Victor Aimikhe, presented on behalf of the Centre. His presentation was titled, “Sustainable Oil and Gas Development in Africa: New Insights on Process Optimization and Novel Adsorbents.” There were also presentations from one student of each Centre. ACE-CEFOR was represented by PhD student, Mrs. Amara Igboamalu. Mrs. Igboamalu’s presentation was titled, “Evaluation of Lagenaria Breviflora (Christmas melon) as Eco-friendly Corrosion Inhibitor in Oil and Gas operations.”
There were also guest lectures given by Pr. Cecil Naphtaly Moro Ouma (PhD) of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Kigali, Rwanda titled, “Backcasting Energy in Society 5.0: The role of generative AI and digital twins in building resilient energy systems”; Mr. Agbokou Jean-Marie of the Comité Consultatif Sectoriel) du CERME (CCS) speaking on, “The Issue of Energy Transition”; and Dr. Kondi Akara Vicky who spoke on, “Navigating Africa’s Evolving Energy Landscape: Insights and Strategies for Climate Resistant Growth”. A final guest lecture was given by Prof. Agbati Koffigan, from TMSU International, Dalave, Togo, who spoke on, “Energy Access,Development and Solidarity:: what prospects for our populations?”
There was an excursion to TMSU International at Dalave at Togo on the final day of the symposium.
ACE-CEFOR was represented at the symposium by Centre Leader, Prof. Ikechukwu Agbagwa, Deputy Centre Leader, Dr. Victor Aimikhe, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer, Mr. Uduma Ikpa, Safeguards Officer, Mr. Daniel Okon and PhD student, Mrs. Amara Igboamalu.
WACEENET, a group of Energy and Power Thematic ACE Impact Centres, is made up of Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED), Nigeria; Regional Centre of Excellence on Energy and Sustainability (RCEES), Ghana; Africa Centre of Excellence for Future Energy Systems (ACE-FUELS), Nigeria; Centre d’Excellence Régional pour la Maîtrise de l’Electricité (CERME), Togo; and Africa Centre of Excellence for Oilfield Chemicals Research (ACE-CEFOR), Nigeria.
