Afri-SET holds third regional workshop on Air quality sensors and data analysis for West Africa

Afri-SET held a four-day workshop on Air Quality Data, Air Sensors, and Computational Tools for West Africa from May 18 to May 21, 2026, at the University of Ghana. The workshop brought together researchers, students, policymakers, civil servants, NGOs and media practitioners from across West Africa, both physically in Accra and online. Dr. Allison Felix Hughes said the workshop is focused on building technical capacity across the sub-region.

The Air Quality Sensor Evaluation and Training Facility for West Africa (Afri-SET) was set up to evaluate low-cost air quality sensors and test how they perform in African weather and pollution conditions. Desmond Appiah said the project is important because many sensors developed abroad may not perform the same way in Africa. He said, "There's been a lot of air quality sensors developed around the world, but most of them did not really have the opportunity of being evaluated in the context of, say, Ghana or West Africa, and that is where AFRICET's work is extremely important." Dr. Hughes said, "AFRICET, which is the Air Quality Sensor Evaluation and Training Facility, which is located in the Department of Physics, is a facility that has been set up to evaluate low-cost air quality sensors and see how well they perform in the realistic African environment."

According to Dr. Hughes, the programme is designed as a "training of trainers" model so participants can return to their countries and train others.