Following the success of the first seminar decided as part of the action plan that was agreed upon at the UIC Regional Assembly for Africa held in Paris on 10 December 2013, the second seminar took place in Rabat, Morocco, from 10 – 31 May 2014.

The meeting brought together high-level participants representing railway companies from nine member countries of UIC Africa (Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Cameroon, Senegal, Djibouti, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco). The seminar also combined case studies and technical visits with presentations by experts, in particular by UIC on the topics of safety, security and international training. The aim was to develop risk management and to understand the regulatory technical and legal requirements needed to effectively ensure the safety of railway operations.

The seminar was opened on Monday 19 May 2014 by Messrs Mohamed Rabie Khlie, Chief Executive of ONCF and Chairman of the UIC African Region, and Jerzy Wisniewski, Director of UIC’s Fundamental Values Department and Coordinator of the UIC African Region.

During the very positive evaluation session on 29 May, the participants stressed the value of this training, undertook to re-deliver it within their companies and wished for seminars like these to continue, as they are essential to the development of African railways.