Representatives of eight countries met in Nairobi in early June 2022 under the auspices of the Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), a regional community institution that coordinates higher education (HE) developments. It was decided that Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia will participate in the five-year programme to build collaborative research capacity in five priority areas: industry (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), agriculture, health, education and applied statistics. This effort is supported by the World Bank with USD 140 million (approx. EUR 132 million) in form of credit.

24 centres of excellence were selected through an objective, transparent and merit-based process. Each will receive USD 4.5 – 6 Million (EUR 4.2 – 5.7) to implement their proposals. Overall, they are expected to enrol more than 3.500 graduate students, out of which at least 700 would be PhD students and more than 1.000 are required to be female. Another goal concerns the publication of more than 1.500 journal articles and 300 research collaborations with the private sector and other institutions. Ultimately, it is anticipated that approximately USD 30 million (EUR 28 million) in external revenue will be generated by the end of this period.

Prof. Alexandre Lyambabaje, former Executive Secretary of IUCEA, commented that “We value this new partnership to improve the quality of training and research in higher education, and reduce the skill gaps in key development priority areas.”

You can find more information on the project here.