The market in Rwanda for cold-chain is developing, yet, in many parts of the country, refrigeration equipment is still not fully understood or widely-used, largely because a base of engineers and technicians with the appropriate skills is desperately needed to support its adoption. The Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold-Chain (ACES) is helping to change this.
ACES & Refrigeration Facilities
Here at ACES, we provide a range of practical, hands-on training courses and programmes that use advanced refrigeration facilities to replicate the real-world systems that engineers and technicians will encounter in the field. Designed to meet current industry and environmental standards, these training rigs and demo stands enable trainees to learn how to install, maintain, and repair both traditional refrigeration equipment and newer technologies, such as solar-powered systems and natural refrigerants - for example hydrocarbons (R290 and R600a). This means trainees don’t just learn theory; they gain practical skills to work safely and efficiently with more environmentally-friendly equipment types and greener refrigerants, developing a deep understanding of energy efficiency, refrigeration fractioning, maintenance and repair, and, most importantly, the safety protocols for handling flammable refrigerants.
This training is especially important as Rwanda, and Africa more broadly, moves toward adopting new refrigerant types through implementation of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. While hydrocarbon refrigerants are better for the environment, they present technical challenges that require specialised expertise. ACES addresses this by providing competency-based training that blends classroom instruction with practical sessions. Technicians learn safety regulations and how to handle these refrigerants correctly and confidently.
The Importance of Solar
In addition to the focus on hydrocarbons, ACES emphasises training on solar-powered refrigeration systems. Trainees learn how to design, size, and maintain the equipment, including integrating solar panels and battery storage, as well as how to apply thermal management and other related operational techniques. Skills that are essential for supporting critical services such as vaccine storage, food preservation, and agricultural supply chains - especially in remote areas.
A major benefit of this initiative is that refrigeration technicians and engineers, representing both the formal and informal sector from across Rwanda, will gain advanced training through ACES. And, importantly, our inclusive approach is ensuring that trained professionals are available not only in cities, but also in rural and peri-urban areas, where refrigeration services are vital to community development and economic growth.
By equipping this wide network of practitioners with the right skills, ACES is improving the reliability, performance, and safety of refrigeration, thereby contributing directly to the well-being of communities across Africa. Having a qualified technician available nearby, means faster maintenance and repairs and more dependable cooling services. Skilled technicians help deploy energy-efficient systems and reduce refrigerant leaks, both leading to lower greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure safe use of natural refrigerants. Our efforts are making refrigeration not only more accessible and affordable, but also more inclusive and environmentally sustainable.
ACES international expert Craig Girdlestone sums up the impact of the approach nicely:
“Over the past year, I’ve had the privilege of helping to build something quite special at ACES and it’s exciting to see the students' overwhelming enthusiasm as they seek to gain empowerment through knowledge. I’ve witnessed first-hand how their confidence builds when the training is grounded in practical experience and they acquire real, transferable skills for the future. We’ve worked hard to make sure this opportunity is inclusive and the 150 or so trainees to date have been an eclectic mix, ranging from engineers, electricians and entrepreneurs, to individuals with no previous technical experience. Our focus on making GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion) a key priority in course design and promotion means that we’ve seen real progress in this area and now have up to 40% female participation in a lot of our training.
We have also been deliberate about exposing students to a wide range of technologies in our courses, from forklift operation and battery maintenance in cold stores to solar for use in off-grid vaccine logistics and water irrigation, because the future of cooling won’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. We will need a diverse mix of solutions to meet local demands and changing Global circumstances, including climate change and geopolitical impacts. That will require technicians who can adapt, and more importantly, adapt fast.
From a technical standpoint, it has been a joy to see our training team constantly pushing the envelope and demolishing barriers in course creation, presentation and delivery. We’re not just training technicians to understand systems across the energy and refrigeration spectrum, but to consider how their safe and efficient use can bring real term added value to local communities. We’ve had students diagnose real faults, prepare commissioning reports, and map out entire cold chain solutions for smallholder farmers. These are skills that matter on the job and which will be vital to enabling alignment with future shifts in policy and technology. ACES isn’t just about teaching refrigeration, we’re helping to shape a workforce that will own Africa’s cooling future.”
Learn More
To find out more about our training courses and programmes, we encourage you to visit the Academy today. To keep up-to-date with all things ACES and Clean Cooling Network (CCN), why not become a member of the CCN, by registering here.