EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MOROCCO RAILWAY TRAINING INSTITUTE (IFF)
Based in Rabat since its creation in 2015 thanks to an SNCF-ONCF partnership, the IFF (Institut de Formation Ferroviaire) of Morocco has been ISO 21001 certified. The Institute provides innovative modules directly linked to railway and transversal professions, intended mainly for operators of High-Speed Lines, Classic Lines but also applicable to urban and peri-urban transport for Morocco, France and Africa.
With a tailor-made training catalog, the institute is sought after for its recognized know-how and expertise in Africa and even in Europe. In this exclusive interview with Africa Supply Chain magazine, the Chairman of the Board of Directors Karim Eddine CHENNOUF and the Managing Director Christophe Martin explain how the institute became one of the pioneers of training in the railway sector in Africa, the management of the center during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as its collaboration with several African operators such as GTS-SA in Senegal.
Chairman of the IFF Board of Directors since 2015, he forged his career in the railway sector at ONCF Maroc where he held various positions of responsibility, starting with the field of rolling stock maintenance as Manager of the braking systems maintenance workshop in 1987. Then, Head of the production department responsible for organizing and carrying out the maintenance program in 1992, then Director of the maintenance establishment for towed freight and passenger equipment in 1994.
Then, Head of the HR and General Affairs Department at the central management of Rolling Stock in 1996. It was there that he led the restructuring and reorganization plan for maintenance establishments and also ensured the management of the quality certification of these establishments.
In 2002, he was appointed Director of Human Resources at ONCF and oversaw the overhaul of the HR management system and the transition from the obsolete 1963 personnel status to a new, more motivating status.
In 2009, he was reappointed Director of HR and Legal Affairs at ONCF, during which time he was also responsible, with a joint ONCF/SNCF team, for the project to create the Railway Training Institute (IFF), which is a joint venture created by the two railway operators of France and Morocco and which welcomes trainees from both companies.
The IFF opened its doors in Rabat in 2015, the result of a partnership between SNCF and ONCF. What motivated its creation and how does the institute present itself?
The IFF project was born from the partnership between SNCF and ONCF within the framework of the Grande Vitesse Maroc project. Its first objective was to ensure the transfer of skills necessary for the operation and maintenance of a high-speed network. More than 600 ONCF employees were thus trained, making the company fully capable of mastering high-speed rail.
Beyond this simple transfer, the two shareholders of the Institute wanted to be able to encourage exchanges between peers: this is how French and Moroccan railway workers have been training at the IFF since the creation of the Institute.
Finally, on this basis, opening up to all operators in the region seemed obvious, in a context where there are numerous railway development projects on the continent.
IFF is one of the first training institutes specializing in rail transport in Africa, what analysis do you make of your market in the continent? Do you have any competitors?
We do not think in terms of competition. Operators on the continent did not wait for the IFF to provide training and build their own training centers. We want to complement the training offer available to each country by relying on innovative educational tools.
In this, the IFF has invested in educational models, simulation tools and distance learning devices that put it in a position to offer services while avoiding others having to bear significant investments. There are clearly training needs linked to the development of the railway on the continent.
Through our structure and our know-how, we offer training opportunities that provide skills in all railway professions and in the global approach to the railway system. Our trainers are experts in their field, with experience gained at SNCF or ONCF.
Rail transport is suffering in Africa and there is a gap between the Maghreb countries which are more advanced compared to the countries of sub-Saharan Africa in terms of rail transport, how do you explain this situation? Overall, what analysis do you make of the problems related to rail transport on the continent?
Indeed, there is clearly a certain gap in the development of the railway sector between different regions of Africa, mainly due to the public policies of each country but also to the fact that this sector is highly capital-intensive, which has relegated it to second priority in terms of investment in many African states.
However, we are witnessing a revival of this sector in recent times, as evidenced by the major projects completed or underway, which have established themselves as structuring projects for the development of Africa. The case of the high-speed train in Morocco "Al Boraq", the TER of Dakar are the most recent examples, but many other projects are current in the different regions of Africa.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE GENERAL DIRECTOR OF THE RAILWAY TRAINING INSTITUTE (IFF)
Having joined SNCF in 1987, Christophe MARTIN began his career in customer service. He held management positions at SNCF Voyageurs (marketing, service design, security and anti-fraud), in the Region (TER studies and projects) and in Ile de France (project manager) as well as operational management positions: Director of an establishment with 500 controllers, Operations Director and then TGV Director in Pays de la Loire where he managed a structure of 2010 agents (sales, stopovers, on-board service and telephone call center) from 1000 before joining IFF in July 2017.
For some time now, the IFF has been able to attract new operators in certain African countries, such as the Grands Trains du Sénégal (GTS-SA), which is asking you to train its agents. What is your ambition for this continent?
The IFF positions itself as a partner of the continent's operators, in the sense that it is able to offer three types of training:
- “From the catalog” (all modules are available on our website www.iff-ma.com in the training section);
- A la carte (by combining modules to establish training courses);
- And also tailor-made, based on specifications established by the client. Our strength is also to encourage meetings between railway workers from various backgrounds, particularly when training takes place in Rabat.
Sharing experiences and technical visits are essential elements of training; we also adapt our practices and, when more relevant, we carry out training on site at our customers' premises to optimize training time.
Our experience also leads us to provide training consultancy and we support operators in improving the skills of their own trainers: teaching techniques and training engineering.
Let's talk about the Covid-19 pandemic which has not spared any structure in the world; how did you experience it at the IFF and what was your resilience strategy for the continuity of training?
Like everyone, we were hit hard by the crisis, with a reduction of almost 50% of our activity in 2020. We built a three-stage plan: resist, resume, relaunch. We had to resist the crisis with a total closure of the Institute for 3 months from mid-March to mid-June 2020.
However, we carried out urgent remote training during the months of closure, and the IFF team continued its work by teleworking. These three months were used to build recovery scenarios (including compliance with the health rules issued by the authorities) and accelerate the implementation of remote training tools, which was planned for a more distant horizon.
The recovery finally resulted in the implementation of distance learning courses to overcome the travel restrictions of trainees. We also repositioned some training courses at our customers' premises and continued discussions with our prospects and customers to build suitable offers. Thus, from mid-June 2020, we welcomed trainees back on site and were able to offer a certain number of distance learning courses.
When the training courses include practical work, these have been postponed. What do you think of the Magazine, Africa Supply Chain?
It is a pleasant magazine to read and which gives a good overview of African logistics news, but also of global transport and logistics news. Keep it up!
These are really enormous ideas in concerning blogging.
You have touched some good factors here. Anyway keep up
writing.
It's very easy to find out any topic on net as compared to textbooks, as I found this paragraph at
this web page.
Hello, Neat post. There is a problem along with your web site in web explorer, can test this?
IE still is the marketplace leader and a good component of other folks will miss your magnificent writing because of this problem.
Wow that was odd. I just wrote a really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn't appear.
Grrrr… well I'm not writing all that over again. Anyhow, just wanted to say
wonderful blog!
bookmarked !!, I really like your website!
We're a bunch of volunteers and starting a new scheme in our community.
Your site provided us with helpful info to work on. You've done an impressive activity and our whole
community might be grateful to you.
It's awesome to visit this web page and reading the views of all friends about this piece of writing, while I am also zealous of getting familiarity.
Hello! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers?
I'm kinda paranoid about losing everything I've worked
hard on. Any suggestions?
If you would like to obtain a good deal from this article then you have to apply these
techniques to your won weblog.
Thank you for any other informative web site. Where
else may I get that type of info written in such an ideal
means? I've a mission that I am just now running
on, and I have been at the glance out for such information.
Greetings, I believe your web site may be having internet browser compatibility issues.
I look at your web site in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in IE, it's got some overlapping issues.
I simply wanted to provide you with a quick heads
up! Apart from that, fantastic website!
милфа очень хочет секса номер
mobile phone for girls in Moscow for wireless sex and women кто хочет секса из саратова
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much approximately this, like you wrote the
e book in it or something. I believe that you can do
with a few percent to force the message house a little bit, however instead of that,
this is magnificent blog. An excellent read. I will definitely be back.
I would like to thank you for the efforts you have put in penning this
website. I'm hoping to view the same high-grade content by you
in the future as well. In truth, your creativity
writing abilities has encouraged me to get my own site now 😉
This information indicates the purchase of a farm in Torino, Italy Accord Plan-les-Ouates is available for medical assistance in Belgium
pharmaceutical grade drugs
Davur Mâcon offers more economical alternatives to medications
de marca
medicijnen kopen in Wallonia Verman Zoutleeuw Medikamente ohne Rezept in Österreich erhältlich
contact me to buy medicamentos sandoz Pivijay purchase medicines in pharmacy
medications with or without prescription Interpharm
Sankt Vith medicijnen kopen in Nederland
к чему снится что кто то пишет письмо 10 июня
1998 zodiac sign and чему снится приступ
epilepsy
таро джокер карта значение если
снится что обломался зуб
I have been browsing online more than three hours lately,
but I by no means found any attention-grabbing article like
yours. It's lovely worth sufficient for me. In my opinion,
if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you did, the
the web will be much more useful than ever before.
It is perfect time to make some plans for the future and it
is time to be happy. I have read this post and if I could I want to suggest you some
interesting things or suggestions. Perhaps you can write next articles referring to this article.
I wish to read more things about it!
пайдалы сынып, пайдалы қазба деген не
4 сынып жаратылыстану қолдағы тікенді қалай алуға болады, баланың арқасындағы тікенекті алу
ashha принц сколько лет, асха принц инстаграм
бир досым бар девушка поет,
бир досым бар каракалпакша скачать
тэтчеризм ұғымына анықтама, м тэтчердің ұлыбритания тарихындағы рөлі национальный
Fund for children aged 18 and over.
2022 in казахстане metal texture
ржавый, декошоп кз сиыр туралы өлең шумақтары,
қой туралы тақпақтар
This is the structure of the leather in the living room, the leather is the key сколько лет от майора до подполковника, сколько лет от капитана
до майора в полиции ақша қалай жасалады,
ақша функциялары
farmaci consigliato medici heumann Helmond Order your
medications in complete confidentiality
мен не үйрендім 3 сынып 81сабақ, нәтиже сабақ мен не үйрендім 7 сынып қмж
Tursengali Alaguzoov, Tursengali Alaguzoov
википедия немерем туған күніңмен
тілек, қыз немереге тілек самые низкооплачиваемые профессии в казахстане, средняя зарплата в казахстане
к чему приснились ежата сделать гороскоп весы снится
coriander horse
к чему снится давно знакомая
The young girl's little girl is very special.
this man
free sale of medicines in Belgium tank Albi Medikamente Kauf in Frankfurt, Deutschland
buy medicines in Bolivia Aristo Isidro Casanova Order medicines online in Canada
Best price for medications Easypharm Casandrino order
medications
Fantastic beat! I wish to apprentice while you amend your site, how could I subscribe for a blog
website? The account helped me an acceptable deal. I had been tiny bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear concept!
Who should not take desloratadine How
dystonia begins How to make mucus more fluid
How to get the pill in the pharmacy
CBD gummies or how many are gummies are a convenient and yummy scheme to enjoy the possible benefits of cannabidiol (CBD). Ìåéä from hemp extracts, they offer a judicious and pre-measured amount of CBD to promote rest, modify emphasis, and manage pain or inflammation. These gummies are non-psychoactive, containing teeny to no THC, and crumble in different flavors and strengths to adjust numerous needs. They're example fitting for beginners and trained users way, providing an easy, enjoyable wellness boost.
Hey, thanks for the blog post.Really looking forward to read more. Want more.