Associations
SARACCA JOINS AFRICAN
HVACR BODY , U3-ARC
The cooling sector ’ s technology and drive is said to be the key to sustainable development for Africa .
U-3ARC ( Union of Associations of African Actors in Refrigeration and Air Conditioning ) was created during the general assembly held in Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso on September 24 , 2020 , by 30 associations of refrigeration and air conditioning actors from 29 African countries . U-3ARC represented more than 20 000 formal and informal businesses employing nearly 150 000 peoples at the date of its inauguration .
The objective of the body is to contribute to the sustainable socio-economic development of the African continent on the one hand , and on the other hand to overcome the environmental challenges linked to the refrigeration and air conditioning sector . The international expert Madi Sakandé took the initiative to bring together all the players in the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors on the continent to achieve these .
Their overall objectives and focus areas are further detailed as :
• Disseminating best practices in refrigeration
• Developing training programmes on refrigeration - in both formal and non-formal settings
• Hosting a register of refrigeration technicians , schools , institutes , and other actors in the refrigeration sector
• Stimulating access by African professionals to new technologies
• Fostering solidarity among refrigeration specialists , organising refresher , and upgrading courses for technicians
• Arranging cooperation with higher institutes providing training on refrigeration , developing cooperation relations with international refrigeration specialist networks
• Labelling refrigeration works and creations
• Promoting the participation of professionals to international fairs and forums , thus empowering African expertise
• Working towards improving the environment by encouraging the use of neutral substances and controlling greenhouse gas emissions
• Promoting energy efficiency
• Working towards promoting gender and women mobilisation for refrigeration and air conditioning business
• Supporting and adopting general interest international measures for the development of the sector
• Making sure that any event hosted by the Association is a crucial meeting place for the sector
• Supporting technical information and experience sharing as well as knowledge sharing among its members
• Encouraging and participating in joint projects related to the sector
U3-ARC
Through the South African Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Contractors Association ( SARACCA ), South Africa became the 37th country to join the African body .
“ U-3ARC is a dynamic association and has grown extremely fast to now be present in 46 countries in Africa . The body president , Madi Sakandé , is very passionate about the industry and sees the sector as a key focus point for economic growth while there is also realisation of the fact that there is a shortage of artisans to fill a growing need and so quality training has become critical . SARACCA therefore joined U-3ARC to assist with this training need and share our safe handling of refrigerants best practices - that has recently been finalised and formulated into a national training standard that is in the process of being rolled out locally . Further our support will include technology and technical expertise from South Africa , that in fact has some of the best refrigeration engineers and technicians in the world ,” says Hennie Basson , president of SARACCA .
Should a SARACCA member win a contract in one of the U-3ARC member countries and need local support , then the associations open this door of assistance and is another significant value benefit of membership to bodies that engage on this level .
Further updates and information from U3-ARC will be shared in future issues or our other HVACR media platforms . RACA
South Africa recently joined the fast-growing African body as the 37th member through SARACCA
www . hvacronline . co . za RACA Journal I October 2021 15