African Refrigeration Day 2025, coinciding with verdict of Alioua Awards

This September 24, 2025, in keeping with a traditional annual celebration, U-3ARC will commemorate 4th Edition of African Refrigeration Day. Once again, this will be an opportunity to highlight the importance of the refrigeration and air conditioning sector for Africa's economic and social development. This year's special feature is that it coincides with the announcement of the winners of the 1st Edition of the Alioua Awards.

U-3ARC plays an important role in promoting the RAC sector in Africa by organizing events, training sessions, and awareness campaigns to improve the skills and knowledge of professionals in the sector. African Refrigeration Day (ARD), celebrated every September 24, features prominently.

In the profession, this is an opportunity across the continent to highlight the contributions of a cross-cutting sector. Indeed, in food preservation, refrigeration is essential to reduce post-harvest losses and ensure better quality agricultural products. In public health, refrigeration preserves medicines and vaccines, thus helping to improve the health of African populations.

In industry and commerce, this sector is essential to stimulate economic growth and job creation in Africa, particularly in the agri-food, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries.

With regard to comfort and productivity, is it possible to ignore the fact that air conditioning improves comfort in indoor environments, which is particularly relevant in African regions, where temperatures can be extremely high ?

A plus for the economy

More generally, ARD is an opportune moment to highlight the contributions of the RAC sector to the African economy. Professionals take this opportunity to highlight its contribution to economic growth by creating jobs and stimulating industry and trade. Regarding sustainable development, the implementation of adaptive measures, such as the use of eco-friendly refrigerants (after training and awareness-raising), renewable energy, and the promotion of local solutions, can help reduce the environmental impact of the RAC sector.

This is also an opportunity to emphasize the training of qualified technicians and awareness of best practices that can improve the efficiency and safety of the RAC sector in Africa.

Alioua Awards Results

The day before, the jury of the very first edition of the Alioua Awards Competition for the continent's refrigeration technicians, both to highlight them and to honor the memory of the first Secretary General of U-3ARC, the Moroccan Aliou, who passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic on November 02, 2020, met to announce the winners. The jury members, composed of Mr. Hammadi Ferjani, President (Tunisia), Mr. Madi Sakandé (Burkina Faso), Ms. Raoudha Massaoudi (Tunisia), Issa Sékou (Niger), Michael Katwere (Uganda), and Saddam Ndawula (Uganda), named Mr. Elie Nkoueko of Cameroon and Simon Adjonarh of Ghana, as the winners. It should be noted that there were 9 participants, coming from 7 African countries, namely Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Uganda, DRC, Rwanda and Tunisia. Those who were able, in their video clips, to emphasize manipulation with clear explanations of the different real practical tasks, won this Alioua Prize, quite gratifying, moreover. Being named winner, the day before ARD, leaves an indelible mark.