In much of West Africa the profession faces a dilemma: an ageing population of professionally trained interpreters is becoming a minority and gradually giving way to younger, untrained interpreters. Interestingly, this new generation does not lack potential, but the high cost of training in good schools, which are virtually non-existent in Africa, and the near impossibility of getting a visa to study abroad have put training out of their reach. 

As a result the market has all but been taken over by "colleagues" who are difficult to work with, being poorly equipped to perform credibly in a profession in which they could excel if given the proper training. These "colleagues" include university professors and lecturers in foreign languages who have found a comfortable income-enhancing niche and believe that a string of degrees qualifies them eminently for the job, making any further training superfluous.  

The realisation came gradually, but finally we knew that it was time for us to assume responsibility for succession planning within the limits of our constraints. Thus it was that the ICI partnered with the Centre for Distance Learning of the Obafemi Awolowo University to run two 6-day upgrade workshops in Abuja earlier this year. This came on the heels of the conclusion reached by the AIIC Africa Region Training Committee that, pending the establishment of enough credible schools in the region, the only option was to run short refresher and upgrade courses. 

We held our first workshop from March 30 to April 4, 2009 and the second from November 2 to 7, with 9 and 13 trainees attending respectively. They came from Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, and of course Nigeria. Trainers were experienced colleagues who volunteered their time and expertise.

Since the workshops were designed for practising interpreters who had not had the benefit of professional training, emphasis was placed on their specific areas of weakness, such as simultaneous interpreting with text, consecutive interpreting and professional ethics. Of course very little could be achieved in 6 days. We therefore took care to point out that they could expect to acquire only very basic tools to build on to improve performance.

The workshops were successful beyond our expectations and the sense that such training was long overdue was more than reinforced. Trainees were extremely responsive, appreciative and eager for more. People are signing up for the next edition even before the dust has settled on the first.

Students' constant and effusive expressions of appreciation have been so encouraging that we are faced with the pleasant challenge of making time to organise yet another session, as well as plan upgrade modules. To this end we are discussing the best approach: Should we run modules on specific aspects such as Consecutive Interpreting, Sight Translation, subject-specific workshops, etc? Or should we have another, longer session covering various skills and subjects and run it at a more advanced level?

The support received from the ECOWAS institutions, particularly the Commission and Parliament, has been invaluable in getting the workshops running and keeping the costs affordable for participants.  With our partner, the Centre for Distance Learning of the Obafemi Awolowo University, we are also envisaging the use of virtual (online) training, for some modules at least.

Colleagues have been very supportive; all who volunteered their time and expertise to train or assess trainees added value from the wealth of their background and experience.  As a result each session had a unique flavour according to the blend of trainers, assessors and trainees.

One unexpected and truly rewarding result of this support is that all who contributed in one capacity or another have developed a passion for training.  Indeed, some have started making plans to be trained as trainers!

Today the older colleagues have training, upgrading of skills, and mentoring constantly on their lips. The initiative is gaining momentum and our intention is to keep it going until a new crop of conference interpreters emerges that will be able to hold their own and be the pride of the profession in the region and globally.

1 ICI is composed of AIIC members practising in Nigeria.