Two experts from the AGRHYMET Regional Centre in Niamey, Niger Republic, have begun an intensive two-week training program for staff of Data Management and ICT units of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).

Climsoft is an open-source software package developed for developing countries' National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS). It was created with organizations such as the Zimbabwe Met Services, Kenya Met Department, ACMAD, DNM Guinea, SADC Climate Service Centre, and others. Additionally, it is supported by the World Meteorological Organization, the UK Met Office, the University of Reading Statistical Services Centre, SASSCAL, Statistics for Sustainable Development, the African Maths Initiative, IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre, and various other institutions.

Speaking during the opening ceremony on Monday, July 1st, 2024, the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of NiMet, Prof. Charles Anosike, appreciated the AGRHYMET Centre for its support and encouraged the participants to learn as much as possible and be ready to transfer the skills and knowledge gained from the training to other colleagues.

The Climsoft Training Program is an initiative of NiMet’s DG/CEO, and part of his vision is to provide NiMet staff with the required tools to enhance productivity and make the management of climatic data reliable, efficient, and robust.

Upon completion, the training, a result of the strong bilateral relationship between NiMet and AGRHYMET, will aid NiMet in its efforts to digitise its climatological paper forms, enhance the digital archiving of meteorological data, improve data quality checks, and facilitate better access to meteorological (including climatological) data. This will also result in more efficient, reliable, and robust database management, particularly for meteorological data.