ACE Comms TeamThe Africa Center of Excellence in Oilfield Chemicals Research (ACE-CEFOR), hosted by the University of Port Harcourt (UniPort) in Nigeria, has taken a significant leap forward in project management efficiency. One of the 54 Centers of Excellence of the ACE Impact project, ACE-CEFOR has developed two innovative tools: an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Software and a Grievance Redress Platform. These two tools have been designed to simplify the complex fiduciary and administrative processes typically associated with managing large-scale projects.
The Grievance Redress Platform seeks to streamline all grievance management processes and make it easier for the center, its host universities, and other users to address all concerns effectively and swiftly. On the other hand, the ERP software is particularly noteworthy for its comprehensive and multi-functional capabilities, such as its modules for monitoring and evaluation, project management, e-administration, e-procurement, e-auditing, e-accounting, and full notification integration with email, WhatsApp, and SMS. With their breadth and depth, these features allow users to automate various administrative processes, reducing manual workloads and enhancing efficiency.
To announce these innovations, the center’s leadership visited the Association of African Universities (AAU) secretariat in Accra, Ghana, on February 29, 2024. The visit aimed to present and demonstrate its newly launched tools to AAU, the Regional Facilitation Unit for the ACE Impact project, and to gather feedback from the project’s implementation support team.
“The ERP Software and Grievance Redress Platform are products of ACE-CEFOR’s dedicated ICT Research and Development Unit,” the center’s Head of ICT/Safeguard Officer, Mr. Daniel Okon, said. “These tools, along with other custom enterprise software and hardware packages like our Multimedia-based Learning Management System and Proctoring Examination System, have brought ACE-CEFOR and UniPort into the spotlight, both within and outside the ACE Impact project.”
Mr. Okon noted that through these initiatives, ACE-CEFOR supported UniPort in establishing a virtual learning system, which became extremely useful during the COVID-19 pandemic. The center’s virtual learning system enabled the university to quickly and seamlessly transition to a virtual learning module, necessitated by the pandemic, unlike other Nigerian universities, which relied on the Nigerian Universities Commission’s systems.
This proactive innovation also made ACE-CEFOR the first of the 54 Centers of Excellence to fully transition to virtual learning in 2020. Center Leader Prof. Ikechukwu Ozoemenam Agbagwa emphasized that ACE-CEFOR’s software and hardware packages were intended to become significant sources of internally generated revenue as part of the center’s sustainability plan, especially as the ACE Impact project was set to conclude in June 2025.
Operating on the triple helix model of government-academia-industry partnership, ACE-CEFOR sought AAU’s support to commercialize these products across other African centers of excellence and universities. AAU’s Senior Program Manager in charge of the ACE Impact project, Dr. Sylvia Mkandawire, praised ACE-CEFOR for developing those homegrown solutions to ease complex project implementation processes. She was optimistic that other African centers of excellence and higher education institutions would be interested in the tools to improve their project management processes and even inspire them to develop more innovative solutions under the ACE Impact project.
In 2023, ACE-CEFOR implemented the e-procurement module of its ERP software in its procurement processes. Oil firms in Nigeria already use this software, marking a significant milestone in the center’s mission to support the sustainable development of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and other regional economies where these sectors are critical. This progress also aligns with ACE-CEFOR’s vision to become Africa’s leading center of excellence in oilfield chemicals research.
ACE-CEFOR’s delegation was led by UniPort Vice Chancellor Prof. Owunari A. Georgewill. It included Center Leader Prof. Ikechukwu Ozoemenam Agbagwa, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Mr. Uduma Ikpa, as well as the Head of ICT/Safeguard Officer Mr. Daniel Okon. The four-member delegation was received by AAU’s ACE Impact project team, led by Secretary General Prof. Olusola Bandele Oyewole.
Looking to the future, ACE-CEFOR seeks to enhance the tools’ functionalities further and position them as flagship resources for simplifying project management in the region. To this end, it is developing a mobile app to facilitate the complex daily tasks of its leader and vice-chancellor and other users, demonstrating the robustness of the center’s ICT Research and Development Unit and its commitment to innovation and efficiency.