INTRODUCTION

Afri-EQA, launched by ASLM in 2025, is a continental program established to expand access to high-quality, affordable External Quality Assessment (EQA) services for laboratories across Africa. Afri-EQA seeks to improve the quality of laboratory testing across the One Health spectrum by strengthening regional EQA capacity, reducing the cost burden of participation, and expanding the availability of EQA schemes where gaps exist. As a program under the oversight of ASLM, Afri-EQA benefits from ASLM’s broader technical portfolio, institutional infrastructure, expert staff, and continental partnerships. The program responds to persistent challenges including high EQA participation costs, limited scheme availability in some countries, lack of accredited EQA providers, high international shipping costs, and insufficiently trained EQA personnel. Through ISO/IEC 17043 accreditation support, development of new EQA schemes, capacity building for national providers, and structured training of EQA practitioners, Afri-EQA aims to build sustainable, regionally anchored EQA systems in Africa.

Thank you for your interest in enrolling as an approved Proficiency Testing (PT) / External Quality Assessment (EQA) provider under the Afri-EQA program. This enrolment process is designed to ensure that all PT providers meet internationally recognized standards of technical competence, quality assurance, data security, and operational reliability. In this initial phase, accreditation to ISO/IEC 17043 or an equivalent internationally recognized standard is a mandatory eligibility requirement. Only providers meeting this primary requirement will proceed to full technical and operational evaluation. In the next phase, those providers, including national providers seeking ISO accreditation will be enrolled for support

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
Before proceeding, the laboratory must confirm compliance with section 1 minimum requirements.

For any inquiries, please contact the Afri-EQA team at Email.