Over the last few years, ACA has been closely monitoring international higher education hotspots. BRIC countries, for example, have recently been showcased in a series of ACA European Policy Seminars. One of the next ACA seminars is focused on Africa. Organised jointly with DAAD, EAIE and EUA on Friday, 13 December, the seminar called For mutual gain: Euro-African cooperation in higher education will explore the possibilities of mutually beneficial higher education cooperation between Africa and Europe.

Africa’s potential in international higher education is incontestable. According to OECD-UNESCO data, every tenth foreign student enrolled worldwide is of African origin. Of all international students in OECD countries, 9% are from Africa, with European countries like France, Portugal, Finland, Italy, Ireland and Norway, as well as Germany, Spain and UK, hosting important numbers of African students. The last decade has also seen a nearly double increase in the number of foreign students enrolled in tertiary education in Africa.

The questions arising in the context of Euro-African cooperation in higher education are of how to propel mutually gainful partnerships; how to achieve better quality and stronger identity of African higher education; and how to support financially the academic cooperation between two continents.

A mix of university leaders and national policy makers from Africa and Europe will meet on 13 December in Brussels in order to address these issues in the institutional, national and regional context. The seminar will bring together researchers from top universities, development experts from international and European donor organisations, regional specialists from national and European higher education and mobility entities, as well as high profile African experts from a range of organisations, including the Inter University Council For East Africa (IUCEA), East African Community (EAC) and the Association of African Universities (AAU). 

For more details about the programme, please visit the seminar's webpage