GSAf was founded in 1973 at the Haile Sellassie 1 st University in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia GSAf has the following objectives: To promote the development of geosciences in Africa. To promote the sustainable (and environment friendly) development of the mineral, and hydrocarbon resources of the Continent. To act as a channel for the opinions of African geoscientists. To foster the highest standards of professional competence and ethical behaviour in the practice of geosciences in Africa. To care to preserve important geosites in Africa. To publish regularly a newsletter, to maintain an active website, and to encourage and sponsor publications on African publications.
In 2012 the GSAf became recognized as an international NGO with all rights and priviledges by the Ethiopian Government in a Memorandum of Agreement signed by the State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia and the President of the GSAf Since January 2013 we have a permanent Secretariat at the Old Geology Department Building, Faculty of Sciences, Addis Ababa University. Since May 2013, we have an employed Office Manager (Mrs. Tsigereda Kebede, MSc.)
GSAf is associated with the International Union of Geosciences(IUGS); Geological Society of America (GSA); American Geosciences Institute (AGI); Contacts are under way to make GSAf associated with: American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG); Society of Economic Geology (SEG). GSAf has signed MoU with IAGETH, ESM and IAS
Our thanks to: Prof Nasser Enni (Morocco) Former GSAf Secretary General; Mr. Georg Stegmueller (Austria) Webmaster of the Institute of Earth Sciences, Un. Graz for actualizing the webpage Prof. Aberra Mogessie, GSAf President, for his personal work in uploading information in the webpage.
North: Algeria Egypt Lybia Morroco/Sahara Tunisia Canarias (Sp) Ceuta (Sp) Melilla (Sp) Madeira (Pt) Center: Cameroon Centrafican Rep. Congo Congo, DR Gabon Equatorial Guinea S. Tomé & Príncipe Tchad South: Angola Botswana Comoros Lesotho Madagascar Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia South Africa Swaziland Zambia Zimbabwe Marion & Prince Edward Is. (ZA) Mayotte, Reunion & Dependencies (Fr) St Helena & Dependencies (UK) West: Benin Burkina Faso Cape Verde Gambia Ghana Guinea Bissau Guinea Conakry Ivory Coast Liberia Mali Mauritania Niger Nigeria Togo Senegal Sierra Leone East: Burundi Eritrea Ethiopia Kenya Rwanda Seychelles Somalia Sudan Tanzania Uganda Socotra (Ye)
FINANCING INSTITUTIONS: IUGS is the unique constant source of financing; INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERS MEMBERSHIP FEES From the Biannual Colloquium (CAG) if profit is made We need financial source to run the office and we have to be creative!!
Maputo Declaration 21 st Colloquium on African Geology (CAG21), Mozambique (2006); Arusha Declaration Launch of the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE), Tanzania (May 2008); Paris Declaration - UNESCO Initiative for Africa on Earth Sciences, Paris (2009) Pretoria Declaration Meeting between ICSU-ROA and the Coordinators of the NC-IYPE from Africa, South Africa (2009).
- Strengthen scientific infrastructures and promote regional centers of excellence for the teaching of geosciences in Africa. - Improve access to geoscientific knowledge through a revision of the national educational systems. - Call to the African Union to develop a Strategic Plan for a balanced development of Africa. - Support the AEGOS Initiative (African-European Georesources Observation System) aiming at developing an information system to be distributed and shared. - Invite the African geoscientific community and civil society to actively show, through IYPE, the great potential of geosciences in the building of a more safe, healthy and wealthy Africa. - Promote the creation of Geoparks, biosphere reserves and African Sites of Geological Heritage, as instrument of preservation and development.
Cooperation with UNESCO and IUGS on Earth Science Education in Africa which will also deal with the establishment of Excellence Regional research centers (with specific specializations which are required for the development of the region. 5 Regional Workshops in: UNESCO Assiut, Egypt IUGS Luanda, Angola CIFEG Cape Town, South Africa GSAf Dakar, Senegal AAWG Kinshasa, Congo DR
Recommendations of the 5 Workshops: Earth science community must engage in outreach exercises to educate the general public on the importance of earth sciences for society; 21 st century Earth System Science Education must transcend conventional view of geosciences and the teaching of Earth Sciences needs to be multidisciplinary in its approach; Geology should be included in the school curriculum at primary and secondary levels; It is important to build connections between Industry and Academia; Reinvigorate old networks and build new ones between African researchers and the global research community; Counter the lack of adequate analytical facilities through exchange, sharing, and obtaining new equipment through new funding mechanisms; Improving earth science education requires addressing many elements of the status of earth science in Africa but must also focus on teaching.
OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF GSAf Official MoU is signed in 2013 between the GSAf and Elsevier(Publisher) Journal with 3 volumes/year and 4 numbers/volume We invite all to publish in this journal and help to increase the scientific standard of manuscripts submitted for publication by acting as active reviewers in your fields of specialization.
Being an official event of the GSAf, the following CAG s have already taken place (including the present one): 17 CAGs in Europe 16 th - Mbabane, Swaziland, 1993 17 th - Harare, Zimbabwe, 1997 18 th - El Jedidah, Morocco, 2002 21 st - Maputo, Mozambique, 2006 22 nd - Hammameth, Tunisia, 2008 23 rd - Johannesburg, S. Africa, 2011 24 th Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2013 25th Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania 2014
Objectives: To draw a panafrican infrastructure of interchangeable data and of services, user friendly, to strengthen the sustainable use of georesources in Africa; To contribute to GEOSS (Global Earth Observation System of Systems) throught the installation in Africa of an observation system of the Solid Earth; To elaborate common strategies for capacity building and training programs; To support geoscientific communities and institutional decision makers in the definition of sustainable development policies. GSAf is a partner in this initiative.
Objectives: Phase I is completed. Phase 2 is being integrated in the African Mining Vision (2009), which is being conducted by the African Minerals Development Center (AMDC) under the Umbrella of UNECA, AUC, AFDB and the UNDP. As an African Counterpart SEAMIC plays a major role in the implementation process
GSAf has a representatives from each of the 5 regions in the team that is producing this map under the supervision of the Commission of the Geological Map of the World (CGMW). North - Prof. Abu El-Ela A. Mohamed, Head of Seismology Dept, National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Helwan, Cairo, Egypt. Central - Dr. Nnange Joseph Metuk, Geophysicst, Geological and Mining Research Institute, Cameroon). West - Festus A. Abimbola, Reader/Associate Professor of Geology, Department of Geology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. East - Dr. Atalay Ayele, Department of Geology and Geophysics, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. South - Dr. Benjamin Mapani, Department of Geology, University of Namibia, Secretary General of the GSAf.
The GSAf has supported several IGCP projects submitted by African Earth Scientists and their counterparts from Europe and elesewhere.
The 1 st international conference on African & Arabian Geoparks was organized by AAWG, Prof. Ezzoura Errami, President as well as Chair of the Conference. In the provisional scientific advisory committee were the GSAf President (A. Mogessie), the former GSAf Presidents (Prof. S. Muhongo and Prof. F. Toteu) as well as the GSAf VP for Eastern African Region (Dr. Asfawossen Asrat). In the local committee in addition to the Chair who is a Life member of the GSAf, was Prof. Nasser Enni (former GSAf Secretary General). This shows the wish and the will of the GSAf to cooperate in any initiative on the Earth Sciences with the AAWG to advance this field in the African continent.
GSAf is a partner/advisory Board to several projects dealing with the Earth Sciences in Africa: African Network of Earth Science Institutions in Africa (ANESI) with UNESCO Nairobi African Minerals Geosciences Initiative (AMGI) with the World Bank, AUC, AMDC etc. PanAfGeo (EGS-OAGS) AEGOS; GIRAF etc.