The initiating of the phase-out of leaded gasoline in SSA was effectively launched at the major regional conference organized by the World Bank in Dakar (June 2001). Soon afterwards, Nigerian participants in that conference formed The Committee on the Phase-out of Leaded Gasoline in Nigeria and organized a two-day national conference in Abuja (November 2001). Subsequently, to date three sub-regional conferences have taken place to follow up this issue in the overall framework of the Initiative. The first "West Africa sub-region conference" was held in Dakar, Senegal (March 2002), jointly by the Initiative and the CETUD. The second "Nigeria and Neighboring Countries sub-region conference" took place in Cotonou, Benin (April 2002), a joint effort by the Initiative and the Benin Ministry of Environment, Housing, and Urbanism. The third "East Africa sub-region conference" took place in Nairobi, Kenya (June 2002), a joint undertaking by the Initiative, UNEP, IPECA and USEPA.