The ECOWAS Commission, through its Early Warning Directorate, successfully concluded a two-day consultative workshop on the Regional Geospatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Project in Lomé, Togo. The workshop was personally closed by H.E. Mrs. Damtien L. Tchintchibidja, Vice-President of the ECOWAS Commission.
The SDI Project is a strategic initiative to harmonise, centralise, and standardise geospatial data across Member States, thereby supporting decision-making, governance, crisis response, and development planning.
In her opening remarks on the first day, delivered on her behalf by Dr. Onyinye Nkechi ONWUKA, Acting Director of the Early Warning Directorate, the Vice-President underlined the urgent need for regional cooperation in geospatial data management. She called for greater institutional collaboration and alignment to strengthen human security and sustainable development.
The workshop brought together national geospatial agencies, experts, and technical partners, including AFRIGIST and SénégalNumérique SA. Key outcomes included validation of the SDI framework, consensus on policy and institutional recommendations, and strategies for data harmonisation and long-term sustainability.
ECOWAS’s complete support for the SDI initiative was reaffirmed by the Vice President H.E. Damtien. TCHINTCHIBIDJA, during the closing. She also encouraged Member States to remain engaged. “Together, let us construct a geospatial infrastructure that enables our region to act with greater impact, coordinate, and anticipate,” she declared.
The ECOWAS Commission thanks the Government of Togo for its hospitality and continued support to regional integration.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
