On 16 September 2025, prior to travelling to Gambia for the ESEF 2025 mission, the Director General of the International Institute of Refrigeration (IIR), Yosr Allouche, made a strategic stop in Dakar, Senegal. The visit aimed to engage with key Senegalese stakeholders who have shown strong interest in the outcomes and future collaboration opportunities of the EU-funded SophiA project.
During her stay, Ms Allouche held high-level discussions with H.E. Mr Birame Souleye Diop, Minister of Energy, Petroleum and Mines, as well as Madame Mame Coumba N.Diaye, Director General of the Agence pour l’Économie et la Maîtrise de l’Énergie (AEME). Talks focused on Senegal’s national strategies for advancing sustainable refrigeration, covering critical areas such as food and health cold chains and comfort cooling.
Ms Allouche highlighted SophiA project’s innovative contributions and stressed the importance of strong governance frameworks, energy-efficient refrigerants, and greater international cooperation through the IIR. She underlined equitable access to sustainable solutions as a shared priority across all sectors.
The meeting also highlighted AEME’s achievements, including the Ecofridges programme, advances in MEPS, and commitments to energy efficiency in buildings, aligning with the IIR’s global agenda on sustainable cooling.
Following the ESEF 2025 mission, Ina Colombo, Head of EU and International Programmes, spent several days in Dakar to strengthen engagement with local stakeholders.
On 24 September, she met with Sokhna Fall Diawara, President of RENAFF, and several executive members at the Social Integration Educative Centre in the Pikine-Guédiawaye suburb. RENAFF is an organisation dedicated to promoting women’s expertise in refrigeration, bringing together over 200 female technicians across Senegal. Its members range from students and teachers to employed technicians and business owners, holding qualifications from vocational certificates to Master’s degrees. Ina took the opportunity to speak to future technicians during an electrical engineering lecture, encouraging them to pursue their studies into a bright career in the field.
The meetings highlighted the members’ enthusiasm for exchanging knowledge about SophiA cooling technologies. Watch the SophiA–RENAFF interviews to see their perspectives and insights on the SophiA youtube channel (to be released soon).
Then, in the afternoon, Ina Colombo met Dr Amadou Warore, an Associate Professor at Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, working at ENSETP (Higher Institute for Technical and Professional Teacher Training). Dr Warore trains future vocational teachers who will teach refrigeration and air conditioning to students in technical and professional schools. Some ENSEPT graduates may become refrigeration expert civil servants in various ministries.
These institutes could be valuable partners in the capacity-building activities of funded projects, including Train the Trainers tasks. A technical tour of the refrigeration laboratories was organised, showcasing various test benches for conventional refrigeration systems, as well as some using R290. Dr Amadou Warore expressed interest in visiting the cooling containers installed in Burkina Faso, as he is already working closely with the SophiA partner, 2iE.
To conclude her visit on 25 September, Ina Colombo met with Dr Fadel Beke and his colleagues at the Centre de Test des Systèmes Solaires (CT2S) in Dakar, a pioneering private laboratory dedicated to evaluating photovoltaic panels and solar equipment.
Established in 2019 through a collaboration between the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), the École Supérieure Polytechnique de Dakar (ESP), and supported by Switzerland’s REPIC programme, CT2S aims to enhance the quality and reliability of solar installations in Senegal and across West Africa. The centre provides comprehensive testing services for various solar components, including modules, inverters, batteries, and charge controllers. It also offers quality control inspections and training programmes for technicians and advisors in the solar energy sector. In addition, CT2S engages in research to assess the performance and durability of solar systems under local environmental conditions.
Potential future projects could involve collaboration with SophiA partners specialising in PV systems, such as OST-PFS, Simply Solar, and RACHP. CT2S is currently a project partner, contributing to the energy modelling tasks of the OpenMod4Africa, an ambitious EU project aimed at developing sustainable and reliable energy systems in Africa, is expected to have a significant impact on the continent’s energy landscape.
