BIFA News
BIFA takes its training to Ethiopia
Continuing the partnership with the Ethiopian Freight Forwarders and Shipping Agents Association (EFFSAA), BIFA was pleased to honour the Memorandum of Understanding by supporting the exchange of knowledge through the delivery of face-to-face training in Addis Ababa. The visit was another phase in the growing partnership between BIFA and EFFSAA which is focused on capacity building, training, and the exchange of best practice in logistics management and supply chain efficiency. Carl Hobbis, member services director with responsibility for training at BIFA, and Liz Sumner, trainer of freight and customs procedures, visited Addis Ababa in November and delivered, two bespoke, two- day training courses. The first, a specially crafted Freight Forwarding Essentials course was delivered to 22 delegates by Liz, covering a range of international trade The course ended with a fun assessment testing delegate knowledge after the two days of training and concluded with the presentation of certificates to all of them by an EFFSAA board member. One of the delegates enthused: “We are using Incoterms every day, and from the BIFA course now understand more about them and their precise meaning in more detail. We also learned about key topics such as letters of credit, marine insurance, as well as a wider appreciation of the features and benefits that the various modes of transport provide, plus much more.” Training the trainer The second part of the training agreement was a brand new two-day Train the elements; it saw great participation from all.
Trainer workshop delivered by Carl to more experienced delegates, many who are delivering the FIATA Diploma. The workshop covered setting objectives, setting-up the learning environment, and concluded with an individual 15-minute micro-session. Carl shared his experience of training, giving the 20 delegates various tips and tricks to make face-to-face training as interactive as possible, putting the learner at the heart of it. Carl commented: “The week certainly pushed both of us out our comfort zone, which is never a bad thing, and it was a great experience. We have been made to feel most
welcome and the feedback we received was excellent as well. “We certainly hope that we have inspired and shown delegates that everyone needs some foundation freight forwarding skills, and hopefully inspired experienced lecturers and trainers to try alternative ways to make training as engaging as possible.” eLearning workshop The two training sessions were sandwiched around a workshop about eLearning where Carl shared the experience of setting up BIFA Bitesize and the lessons learned. Whilst a lot of the training
that takes place in Ethiopia is still delivered traditionally face-to-face, there is an understandable ambition to have an eLearning solution to build up skills capacity. Carl and Liz were also able to visit the British Embassy, with consultants Tripleline and Trademark Africa, to give an update on this and the wider project. Dawit Woubishet, EFFSAA president, commented: “We would like to thank BIFA for all its support towards this partnership so far. The longer- term project and local skills training will be stronger as a result of the training courses, the recent UK mission and sharing knowledge.”
8 | January 2026
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