Rectas: blazing the trail in capacity building for geoinformation production and management for sustainable management of land ,environment and natural resources in Africa

Abstract

The need for a Regional Cartographic Centre was first mooted at the 1st United Nations (UN) Cartographic Conference held in 1963 in Nairobi, Kenya. Consequently, the 8th Session of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) Conference of Ministers held in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1964 passed Resolution 164 (VIII) calling for the creation of Regional Centres for Training in Photogrammetry, Photo-Interpretation and Airborne Geophysical Surveys. In 1971, four founding member states (Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal) signed the principal agreement establishing the Centre. Four other member states joined afterwards, namely: Burkina (in 1981), Mali (in 1982), Cameroon (in 1983) and Niger (inl984). The Centre was declared open on 21st October 1972 with the then Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Dr. R.K.A. Gardiner, as the first Chairman of the Governing Council.