ACE Comms Team

ACE in Focus: Get to know the Emerging Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport in Djibouti

The Africa Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport (CEALT) is one of the two emerging centers of Excellence located in Djibouti, and one of the five new emerging centers of excellence under the ACE Impact Project.  The republic of Djibouti places a high premium on education, seeing it as an essential tool for Djibouti’s growth and development. Given the country’s strategic location (the Suez Canal, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Shipping route) and its significance in global trade and international shipping, CEALT is top priority for the Government as the country continues to leverage its natural positioning to its advantage.

 

CEALT is hosted by the University of Djibouti, in addition to a second Center – the University of Djibouti School of Engineering and aims to become a regional logistics hub in Africa, specializing in the field of logistics, transport, and applied digitization. In line with the ACE Impact Project, the center has been working to improve the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in Africa.

 

Since its establishment, the Africa Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport has continued to be an active player in the logistics sector by strengthening the capacity of human resources on the continent through training, education (at Masters and PhD levels), research, and services to the society in the form of community engagement. It practices an active pedagogy, with a strong component of exposure to problem-solving, case studies, and internships in companies. This Center of Excellence prioritizes the promotion of women’s access to higher education and the investment of efforts to increase the number of female students and faculty until equality is achieved

 

Composition of the Center

The Africa Center of Excellence for Logistics and Transport is made up of two (2) key components – CELT (Logistics and Transport) and Co-E (College of Engineering). It is equipped with an infrastructure of international standards and welcomes motivated Master and Doctorate students who are selected through competitive examinations administered by the University of Djibouti.

 

Key Objectives and Expected Results

CEALT aims to provide the Republic of Djibouti, as well as the countries of the region, with highly competent and innovative technicians, specialists, engineers and executives in the strategic development sectors of Africa such as Logistics, Transport, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. CEALT offers high-quality engineering training which responds to the real needs identified in promising socio-economic sectors such as transport systems, electrical and energy engineering (GEE), civil engineering (GC), and Data Sciences (MDS). The center has a target to promote research within the University of Djibouti, and beyond, through the production of high-level scientific research articles.

 

Key Achievements

  • Recruitment of the first batch of 9 doctoral students from the University of Djibouti
  • Reinforcement of the master’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Reinforcement of the master’s degree in Civil Engineering
  • Reinforcement of the Master in Logistics and Transport
  • Establishment of a Masters in Data Sciences in 2019 academic year
  • The establishment of two Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Civil Engineering Laboratories, (FabLAb)
  • Development of smart classes and fully equipped state of the art computer rooms.

 

Leadership

The center is managed by Dr Abdoulkader Ibrahim Idriss who serves as the center leader. Additionally, CEALT relies on two advisory councils – scientific experts to validate the quality of its academic approach, and industrial experts to validate the relevance of its approach to the needs of businesses and the socio-economic sector.

 

How the ACE Impact Project is Transforming the Center

Under one of the key project subcomponents, ACE Impact is strengthening, through partnerships, both undergraduate and postgraduate education programmes that will provide training to their students and develop skills which are useful in addressing the national development needs of Djibouti. The center is also receiving support for activities including regional technical assistance to strengthen academic programmes and curriculum design; faculty scholarships and training; costs of visiting faculty; technical assistance for institutional policies and practices; improving teaching and research resources; and other regional engagements. Overall, the project has helped improve networking and the broader learning environment of CEALT.

 

Website: https://www.univ.edu.dj/ace1/

Contact CEALT here  abdoulkader_ibrahim_idriss@univ.edu.dj