Centers of Excellence – Page 7 – ACE – Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence

Members of the Executive Board of the Association

November 8, 2021November 25, 2021

CERSA Alumni Association officially launched

The alumni association of the Regional Centre of Excellence on Avian Sciences (CERSA) of the University of Lomé was officially launched on 19 August.

The CERSA Alumni Association, which brings together former students who have obtained their Master’s and/or Doctorate at the Regional Centre of Excellence on Avian Sciences (CERSA) of the University of Lomé, was officially launched on 19^thAugust 2021. The ceremony took place virtually, with selected members physically attending the ceremony whilst adhering to all COVID-19 regulations and guidelines.

Professor Kafui KPEGA, Vice President of the University of Lome addressing the audience

In his welcome address, the Centre Director, Prof. Kokou Tona stated that “CERSA graduates are dedicated to improving the poultry sector and ready to address its challenges.” Prof. Tona reassured the audience that “CERSA is determined to provide innovative ways of conducting research as well as training focused on solving the problems facing the poultry sector”.

Addressing the former students, Professor Kafui KPEGA, 2nd Vice-President representing the President of the University of Lomé entreated the graduates to be exemplary ambassadors of the center. He said, “You will not only have to represent your center with dignity as its ambassadors in your different countries but also you will have to reflect wherever necessary the requirements of rigor, discipline and skills, credo of our institution. Your actions on the ground should confirm the growing good reputation of the University of Lomé in general and CERSA in particular among academic actors in Africa and elsewhere.”

In his remarks, the President of Alumni CERSA, Mr. Bamela Mawoulom TOKOFAÏ noted that, the Association aims to provide a network of poultry science professionals committed to enhancing the African poultry sector with innovative initiatives. He said, “the vision that drives us is that of a professional network of international reference at the service of quality poultry professional training, open to all and working for the professional integration of graduates, and for sustainable development and the development of all. He further noted that, “the general objective of the network is to facilitate the professional integration and mobility of graduates by putting them in contact with each other in a continuous and mutually enriching way, with partner companies, and to allow them to support and learn about the evolution and innovations of the poultry sector”.

Alumni CERSA has numerous members from 11 countries in East, West and Central Africa including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Mali, Senegal and Togo.

The Association’s Strategic Plan comprises the official registration of the network, the coordination of activities in all countries where members reside, support to members’ professional progression, the establishment of framework for writing poultry projects and the organization of scientific and/or commercial conferences and symposia.

Also, Secretary General, representing the Minister of Higher Education and Research Prof. Koffi AGBENOTO, urged the members of the association to embark on poultry entrepreneurship, and to initiate innovative projects to become their own employers, and create jobs for other young people.

Authorities present at the ceremony, called on the CERSA graduates to assume a major role in promoting the poultry sector on the continent in a context where imports of poultry products are still heavy in the trade balance of African countries.

Prof. Kokou TONA, Director of CERSA during his presentation

November 8, 2021November 25, 2021

CERSA Shares it Activities and Vision with the Group of Francophone Ambassadors based in Togo

The Regional Centre of Excellence for Poultry Sciences (CERSA) hosted by the University of Lomé was introduced to the Group of Francophone Ambassadors based in Togo (GAF Togo) and the Regional Representation of La Francophonie.

The centre’s activities were presented to these diplomats accredited to Togo. The GFA Togo includes the Ambassadors of Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Egypt, France, Gabon, Niger, the DRC and Senegal as well as the Regional Representation of La Francophonie.

According to the Ambassador of Gabon, President of the GFA Togo, Mr. Sayid Abdeloko, this approach allows diplomatic missions to have information on ways and means to promote the poultry sector in their respective countries, with the support of CERSA. “Today, the consumption and supply of poultry products to the population is low and forces our countries to import them from Europe and America. CERSA is an African tool that will support us in the transfer of knowledge and training in poultry. We must look closely at what kind of partnership our countries have, including the ministries of agriculture” said ambassador Sayid Abeloko of Gabon.

H.C. Mr. Sayid Abeloko, Ambassador of Gabon to Togo

Prof. Kokou TONA, Director of CERSA noted that ” We plan to establish agreements and other partnership agreements that will allow us to train Master’s and Doctoral level graduates and professionals to promote the development of the poultry sector in the different countries.”

The Regional Centre for Poultry Sciences (CERSA) aims to train graduates in poultry sciences and professionals in the poultry sector. About 150 Master’s graduates and about 50 PhD students and more than 1200 poultry technicians have been trained by CERSA so far. These poultry science graduates and technicians come from nearly fifteen countries in West and Central Africa.

November 8, 2021November 25, 2021

CDA Collaborates with Partners to Address Food Insecurity

The Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) has collaborated with its partners to address the challenges of food insecurity affecting Nigeria and other African countries. UK based LINKS Program and Silvex International have expressed their unwavering commitment to strengthening their partnership with the CDA by coming up with workable strategies to address the food shortages, which have been exacerbated by climate change.

Commemoration of World Food Day by CDA: The Centre commemorated the 2021 World Food Day with a Symposium titled: Food Security in the Face of a Changing Climate: Northern Nigeria in Perspective. World Food Day is celebrated every year on October 16 to commemorate the date of the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 1945. The day is also observed by organizations like World Food Programme and International Fund for Agricultural Development. Since 1981, World Food Day has been celebrated under various themes to highlight the importance of food security, with most of them revolving around agriculture.

The Director of CDA, Professor Jibrin Mohammed Jibrin, in his remarks, said the centre joined the rest of the world to commemorate the day by organizing a symposium to discuss topical issues related to food security in Nigeria. He said the symposium would create awareness of the challenges being faced especially on food security and climate change. CDA invited key stakeholders to brainstorm and come up with solutions that would be beneficial to policymakers and private sector actors to address these challenges.

In his presentation titled: 2021 Growing Season: Forecast, Reality and the Role of NIMET, the Director General of Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Professor Mansur Bako, said the seasonal climate prediction being produced by NIMET is in fulfillment of one of its core mandates. He stated that NIMET monitors weather and climate in Nigeria and provides authoritative meteorological information for sustainable development and safety of life and property.

Professor. Bako, who spoke virtually stated that the wide range of applications of NIMET’s products and services made weather and climate information a relevant input in agriculture and almost all the sustainable development goals, including education.

He said that most states in Nigeria experienced below normal rainfall this year, as had already been predicted by NIMET and communicated to the farmers for them to take appropriate measures.

Presenting an Overview of LINKS/FCDO Climate Smart Agriculture Projects, the Team Lead of the Links Project, Andrew Thorburn said the project aims to transform strategic value chains to improve resilience and reduce climate impact through systems of rice intensification, regenerative agriculture platforms, and sustainable fibre alternatives for cotton.

Speaking on behalf of Silvex International, the Managing Director, Abubakar Usman Adam, mentioned that the company is investing in farm estates for a newly launched program in Jigawa and Nasarawa states which is aimed at bridging the gap in food production efficiency amidst climate change challenges.

November 8, 2021November 29, 2021

CDA Develops Seven (7) New Early Growth Groundnut Seeds for African Farmers

The Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) of Bayero University (BUK) in Kano (Nigeria) has developed seven early growth groundnut seeds for farmers. The centre also unveiled improved seed varieties of sorghum, beans and millet at the centre’s Farmers’ Field Day held on Wednesday, 6^th October, 2021.

The Field Day was aimed at showcasing the newly improved seedlings developed by the centre to farmers and extension workers in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

Several factors have been identified as the reason for the decline in groundnut production in Nigeria such as drought, rosette virus, general neglect of agriculture due to oil boom, and lack of organized input. However, the CDA in collaboration with International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Zaria, and Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR), sponsored by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation took the challenge to revive the production of groundnut by providing new improved seeds to farmers for sustainable production under the AVISA Project.

According to the Director of CDA, Professor Jibrin Muhammad Jibrin, the new seed varieties are drought resistant and if properly used, will help Nigeria, and by extension, Africa, to achieve food sufficiency.

“The seeds are pests and diseases resistant, grow early and lead to bumper harvests. If these seed varieties are used, farmers have the potential of yielding bigger harvests from the same lands they are using the traditional seed varieties. The groundnut we developed for instance has the dual purpose of more crop yield and bigger leaves that could be used as animal feed,” Professor Jibrin added.

Professor Jibrin Muhammad Jibrin image — Professor Jibrin Muhammad Jibrin

The centre director, Prof. Jibrin M. Jibrin stated that “the centre has already adopted about 22 communities from the university’s neighborhood as models for testing the new seeds.” The Principal Investigator of the Project, Professor Sanusi Gaya Mohammed, in his remarks, said that through their research process, they screen the seeds and come up with those that will be given to seed companies to multiply their production for farmers use.

Professor Mohammed, the Deputy Director of Training at CDA, mentioned that apart from groundnut seeds, the CDA has been supporting the farmers with cowpea, beans, and millet seeds which have significantly improved their yields.

On her part, the Deputy Director, Outreach and Publications, Professor Amina Mustapha, said that the AVISA Project is one of many outreach programmes the centre runs, alongside collaborations with many partners in Nigeria and around the world.

Prof. Mustapha said that the CDA has been engaging its 22 adopted companies with modern agricultural farming methods, empowerment of improved seeds, as well as skills and training that improve their production and expand their awareness. She said the centre would continue to give emphasis to its outreach activities.

The Country Director of ICRISAT, Dr. Hakeem Ajeigbe urged the farmers to critically look at the seeds in order to give their feedback to the researchers. He said it would really benefit the research activities.

Also speaking, Professor Yeye of Institute of Agricultural Research, Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU) Zaria, said the AVISA Project aims to improve the research activities through the use of various tools and application to enhance the process. It also aims to provide the seeds to farmers and educate them on the use and application in order to improve the yields.

Others who spoke were Professor Daniel Aba of IAR, Dr. Abou Togola, and Ado Garba from the Kano Agricultural and Rural Development Agency (KNARDA).

Farmers interviewed expressed appreciation to the CDA and its partners for helping with the improved seeds. They expressed optimism that they would adopt the new improved seeds so that the production of groundnut and other crops would be on higher scale in Nigeria.

November 8, 2021November 29, 2021

WACCI spearheads the adoption of game-changing hybrid tomato varieties to ensure sustainable agriculture for the future

Three hybrid tomato varieties (AVTO1866 (Ante Dede), AVTO1870 (Legon Tomato) and AVTO1871 (Tomato Queen)) developed by the World Vegetable Centre, a partner of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) are being considered for release in Ghana following multilocational trials and submission to the National Variety Release and Registration Committee (NVRRC), Ministry of Food and Agriculture by WACCI .
Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah, the Director of WACCI, in an address during a visit by the NVRRC to WACCI charged the Government of Ghana to invest in the agriculture commodity value chain to ensure that “game-changing” crop varieties such as these new tomato hybrids get to farmers across Ghana within the shortest possible time. “If you do not invest in the tomato value chain, these varieties will not go to the farmers in good time. That should not be the case”, Prof. Danquah said.
In his address, Mr. Seth Osei-Akoto, Chairman of the NVRRC highlighted how impressed he was with WACCI’s growth over the past years and praised the Centre for these new tomato hybrids but maintained that there still remained the challenge of getting farmers and consumers to accept hybrid tomato varieties. He charged scientists to develop strategies to understand the farmers needs and develop varieties that could meet those demands.

Mr Seth Osei-Akoto, Chairman of the NVRRC delivering his opening remarks

Dr. Leander Dede Melomey, a member of the WACCI hybrid tomato team led the NVRRC delegation to the field to inspect the hybrid tomatoes and later presented research findings from the multi-locational trials the team had conducted. Following rigorous scrutiny, Mr. Osei-Akoto announced that the three hybrid tomato varieties had been approved for recommendation for release and cultivation in the Coastal Savannah regions of Ghana.

Dr. Melomey presenting the trial hybrid tomato field to members of the NVRRC

In response to the approval of the hybrid tomato varieties, Professor Danquah congratulated the team and charged the Government of Ghana to fast track the ending of food importation by supporting local institutions like WACCI.
The WACCI hybrid tomato team consists of the following: Dr. Agyemang Danquah [Coordinator, Research (Academic Programmes) WACCI], Dr. Leander Dede Melomey (Postdoctoral Fellow, WACCI) and Professor Eric Yirenkyi Danquah (Director, WACCI).

Some of the hybrid tomatoes ready for harvesting

November 8, 2021November 25, 2021

WACCI Director Calls for ‘More Brains’ to Secure the Future of the Seed Industry

Professor Eric Danquah, Director of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI), University of Ghana has made a call for the training of a critical mass of plant breeders to secure the future of the seed industry in Africa.

This call was made on Tuesday, June 29, 2021, during a visit by H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, Board Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), to WACCI.

Accompanying H.E. Desalegn, were Madam Agnes Asiimwe Konde, Vice President, Program Development & Innovation, and Mr. Forster Boateng, West Africa Regional Head among other team members. The visit, was to among others, interact with representatives of the Ghana Early Generation Seed Consortium for Sustainable Production of Quality Seeds. WACCI, is the lead of this consortium which was established to scale up the production of breeder and foundation seeds for maize, soybean, cowpea and groundnut.

Addressing the delegation, Professor Danquah highlighted the benefits of training African plant breeders and seed scientists in Africa in the race against time to eradicate food insecurity by 2030.

“WACCI has one of the highest outputs of PhD graduates in plant breeding education in the world over the past 14 years. It costs significantly less to train our students at home” he said. “Our students have gone on to release improved varieties of staple crops and have raised funds for their research institutions. This is the value of quality plant breeding education in Africa for Africa. Therefore, we must strengthen and replicate the WACCI model across the continent if we want a food-secure Africa”, Prof. Danquah added.

H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, AGRA Board Chair

For his part, H.E. Desalegn commended WACCI for its achievements over the past 14 years in building the necessary human capacity, as well as conducting innovative and impact-driven research needed to drive food security and agricultural development in Africa.

“WACCI is now much more important than ever because of the food challenges facing Africa”, he said.

Madam Konde, in her remarks, also gave high praise to the Centre for its enviable accomplishments over the years in developing human resources and innovations to champion Africa’s green revolution. She called on WACCI, AGRA and other relevant stakeholders to continue to work hard in identifying and eliminating bottlenecks that prevented smallholder farmers from adopting innovations and technologies to fast-track efforts to transform agriculture on the continent.

H.E. Desalegn and Prof Danquah with the WACCI team and AGRA officials

August 16, 2021August 23, 2021

SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF ENSEA: TWO INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES TO LAUNCH THE CELEBRATIONS

Since 1961, the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Statistique et d’Economie Appliquée (ENSEA) of Abidjan has trained more than 4000 graduates from 27 African countries and Haiti. For the celebration of its sixtieth anniversary, several scientific and festive activities are organized since May 2021.

To this end, ENSEA of Abidjan, African Centre of Excellence in Statistical Training and the Econometric Society (ES) organised the 2021 edition of the Africa Summer School in Econometrics (ASSE 2021) for the first time in Africa and the 6th edition of the Africa Meeting of the Econometric Society (AFES 2021) which took place from 26 May to 2 June and from 2 June to 5 June 2021, respectively.

A total of 60 people consisting of doctoral students and young researchers from various institutions from several African and non-African countries took part both online and face to face in the 2021 edition of the African Summer School, “a great first in Africa”, according to the director of ENSEA, Hugues Kouadio. 14 training sessions and a Marschak conference on the theme: “On the econometrics of subjective probability distributions: modelling beliefs about future income” were held at ASSE 2021.

This Summer School aims to promote the culture of economic analysis based on state-of-the-art quantitative methods based on statistical and econometric theories.

Led by eminent professors including economist Manuel Arellano from the University of Madrid in Spain, the course focused on five specific areas, including “Causal inference and policy evaluation with experimental and non-experimental data”, “New trends in panel data analysis methods”, “Bootstrap methods”, “Financial economics”.

“I invite you to build a community of practice from this training and to share the knowledge you will have acquired in your respective research centres and communities,” said the director of ENSEA.

As for the Africa Meeting of the Econometric Society, more than 320 participants from all over the world took part in 158 parallel sessions for the presentation of scientific papers. The meeting culminated in a panel discussion on “Improving Pre-Secondary Education in Africa: Key Challenges and Solutions for Human Capital Development”. This panel, rich both in terms of the quality of the panellists and the theme addressed, saw the participation of the Minister of Technical Education, Vocational Training and Apprenticeship and the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Ministry of National Education and Literacy, representing Mrs. Mariatou KONE, alongside Mr. Gilles Fagninou, Secretary of the Executive Board of UNICEF, and academics such as Prof. Mbiti Isaac, from Virginia University (USA) and Prof. Yaw Nyarko from New York University, for moderation.

This 2021 edition in Côte d’Ivoire was an opportunity to bring together leading economists to discuss issues related to development, education and human capital that correspond to political debates in many African countries, including our own.

It must be said that AFES 2021, which witnessed the participation of renowned researchers such as the 2000 Nobel Prize winner in Economics, the second most influential economist in the world, le Professeur James Heckman, Manuel Arellano (CEMFI, Madrid), Lisa Cook (Michigan State University), Pascaline Dupas (Stanford University), Kirabo Jackson (Northwestern University), Yaw Nyarko (New York University). Pinelopi Goldberg (Yale University), current President of the Econometric Society, kept all its promises and was well attended by researchers and academics, but also by the quality of the keynote addresses in the field of econometrics. It is part of the scientific activities initiated by the Director of ENSEA, Dr. Hugues KOUADIO, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the institution.

A certificate was awarded to each participant either for participation or for presenting a scientific paper in the 41 parallel sessions. The best paper award was won by Ramaele Moshoeshoe from the University of Lesotho with his paper: Long Term Effects of Free Primary Education on Educational Achievement: Evidence from Lesotho. He won a research stay in the research laboratory of the ‘‘Annals of economics and statistics’’ journal.

August 11, 2021August 25, 2021

Centres of Excellence Gain Recognition for their Contributions/ Centres’ Faculty and Students Awarded for their Contributions

The ACE Impact project is proud to announce the awarding of numerous milestones for our centres of excellence across the region. ACE Impact seeks to empower universities in Africa to deliver quality education and applied research by providing the needed infrastructure for an enabling environment, laboratories and equipment, training of faculty, among others. In view of this, the ACE Impact Centres are making productive strides in their contributions in addressing developmental challenges within the region. Relentless efforts made by both centre faculties and students in delivering impactful research and remarkable services in their respective fields are being duly acknowledged by the relevant stakeholders through awards.

Notable among these awards include: The 2020 Bailey K. Ashford Medal by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene received by Prof. Christian Happi, Director for the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) in Nigeria. The award is in recognition of his contribution in research on infectious diseases. Prof. Happi has also been appointed Chair of the Research and Ethics Committee of the Academy of Medicine Specialties of Nigeria.

Prof. Gordon Awandare of the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) received two awards from the University of Ghana during the College of Basic and Applied Sciences (CBAS) Meritorious Awards ceremony. One in recognition of his outstanding service to the College and University and another for his leadership in COVID-19 research to support national response.

Similarly, Prof. Eric Y. Danquah of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) was a recipient of the CBAS Meritorious Awards ceremony for his exceptional service to the College. He is also the 2018 Laureate of the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agriculture and Life Sciences (GCHERA) World Agriculture Prize.

In addition, Prof. Jacob K. Tona of the Centre of Excellence in Poultry Science (CERSA) in Togo has been awarded by the World Poultry Science Association (WPSA) as winner of the WPSA Education Award. In acheiveing a new milestone, he is the first African recipient to win the award.

Professor Diabate Abdoulaye, the Centre Director for the African Center of Excellence in Biotechnology Innovation for Vector-borne Disease Elimination (CEA/ ITECH-MTV) also received the Newcomb Cleveland Prize for his outstanding research on fighting malaria in Africa.

Regarding students’ excellence, Mrs. Njabeh Rita Bonwi and Mr. Richard Kwame Dogbey pursuing MPhil in Irrigation and Drainage Engineering at the West African Centre for Water, Irrigation and Sustainable Agriculture (WACWISA) in Ghana received an award prize of US$ 2,000 each from the 2020 African Plant Nutrition Scholar Award.

We congratulate the winners for these achievements. The ACE Impact project will continue to provide the necessary support and encouragement to centres in maximizing their potentials.

August 11, 2021August 25, 2021

Profiling the Centre of Excellence for Environment and Mining (CEA-EMIG)

Profiling the Centre of Excellence for Environment and Mining (CEA-EMIG) in Niger

The Centre of Excellence for Environment and Mining (CEA-EMIG) is one of the 53 Africa Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) in West Africa. CEA-EMIG is hosted by the School of Mines, Industry and Geology in Niamey, Niger. As part of the centres specialized in the thematic area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), the EMIG has Mining and Environment as its primary focus areas with special interest in Geology, Civil, Industrial and Electrical Engineering.

CEA- EMIG seeks to be one of Africa’s leading training hubs in environment and mining, providing high quality training to address regional challenges in Africa. The centre delivers specialized training in Minerals Extraction and Processing, Environment and Waste Management, Mining Safety, Restoration and Rehabilitation of Mining Sites and Management of Water, Soil and Noise, among others. These trainings are available in Bachelors, Masters, and short-term programmes. In addition, the center focuses on providing improved teaching and learning through regular availability of training of trainers’ programmes for faculty, and the promotion of applied research through university-industry linkages.

The centre has conducted transformative research in validation of a natural material for sealing uranium processing discharge ponds, Geochemistry and Remote Sensing applied to the study of metal pollution of the environment by mine tailings, and Optimization of gold panning techniques and reduction of environmental impacts. With its ultra-modern classrooms and laboratories, as well as innovative teaching staff, the centre is committed to equipping students with the necessary skills and expertise required by industries as well as the applied knowledge to meet the demand skills for Africa’s development. The centre also provides a serene learning atmosphere and environment for students by providing accommodation and recreational facilities. Currently, there are 54 students enrolled under the project – 22 Masters and 32 Bachelors.

To achieve its objectives, CEA-EMIG has collaborated with various institutions within and outside the region. Notable among these are the Abdou Moumouni University of Niamey (Niger); Institut Catholique Polytechnique Saint Jérôme de Douala (Cameroon); University of Lomé (Togo); National Polytechnic Institute Félix HOUPHOUET BOIGNY; National School of Mineral Industries of Rabat (Morocco); International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering 2iE; Polytechnic School of Abomey-Calavi (Benin) and the University of EXETER (England). The centre is also part of the “Responsible Mining Activity and Sustainable Development Network”(RAMR2D) of the ACE Impact Thematic Network project. In strengthening its engagement with industry, EMIG has renewed its partnership through an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Société des Mines de l’Air (SOMAIR). The partnership has resulted in joint publication and implementation of research, internship opportunities for EMIG students, use of EMIG laboratories, and experts in carrying out SOMAIR activities.

Works of EMIG have received utmost recognition through awards such as the International Prize on Innovative works in Earth Sciences and Civil Engineering by the Vinci Construction, a global leader in the mining and construction industry. Again, in 2020 EMIG placed second in the world and first in Africa at The Trail Students Challenge also organized by Vinci Construction. 506 teams from 78 countries across the globe participated in the competition.

For more information on CEA-EMIG visit their website here

Follow CEA Impact Mining Environment on Facebook

August 11, 2021June 11, 2022

ACE Impact Partners with Japanese Government to strengthen University-Industry Linkages

In February 2021, funded by the Japanese Government’s PHRD Trust Fund, the World Bank Group and Kopernik launched a Pilot University-Industry Collaboration Program to enhance partnerships between African universities and Japanese companies as part of ongoing initiatives with the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) and the Partnership for Skills in Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) Regional Scholarship and Innovation Fund (RSIF). The objective of this pilot is to build partnerships between African universities and Japanese companies with a focus on technology transfer.

The pilot initiative aims to enable African universities to experience a number of opportunities, including the following (i) identify how to improve institutional technology transfer capacity at the university level, (ii) receive recommendations on bridging capacity gaps and developing the institutions to be known for conducting technology transfer, adaptation and prototype development, and (iii) receive hands-on experience in enterprising by working directly with Japanese companies, focusing on user perspectives for applied research.

Given the interests from the Japanese government, universities, and companies to collaborate with African universities, the World Bank team facilitated the partnership development since 2018 through two study tours.

The pilot has recorded some substantial progress and has so far held two separate launch events for African Universities (March 2021), and for the Japanese Companies (April 2021). An online matching event for selected African universities and Japanese companies was also held in May 2021. In total, 35 universities and 8 companies applied to partake in the initiative. Among them, three (3) partnerships will receive in-depth technical assistance through the Kopernik. Kopernik will provide some facilitation and light support for 7 companies, which will work independently with 12 matched universities. A summary of the partnerships developed through the initiative is below.

Recipients of the In-depth Technical Support

ACE/PASET Universities Involved	Companies	Potential Areas of Collaboration (to be finalized)
Moi University	SPEC Co.Ltd	Conduct the testing of soil samples from Kenya. After the soil testing, conduct soil and STEIN (soil hardening agent made by SPEC) mixture research and test the right consistency.
University of Ghana	Challenge Co.Ltd	Collaborate in localizing an earthquake detection and alarm system to suit the local condition in Ghana. Measure the impact of the evacuation training in the case of earthquake.
Nelson Mandela African Institute of Technology	Nikken Co.Ltd	Identify potential test site and use cases for CLINCA 205 (Water disinfecting ceramic sand) in Tanzania. Joint research on how the product could treat and improve water condition in Tanzania. Develop a product distribution plan.

Recipients of the Light Support

Universities	Companies
Université Gaston Berger de Saint-Luis	Challenge Co.Ltd, Oui Co.Ltd, LocationMind
Ahmadu Bello University	Oui Co.Ltd
University of Ghana	Oui Co.Ltd
Institute of Mathematics and Physical Science	LocationMind
Federal University of Technology Owerri	LocationMind
Moi University	Marubeni Corporation, Nikken Co.Ltd.
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science of Technology	Nikken Co.Ltd., LocationMind(TBD)
Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology	SEMCO Co. Ltd.
Egerton University	SEMCO Co. Ltd.pk7jolu6y6t
International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering	Nikken Co.Ltd (TBD)
University for Development Studies	Nikken Co.Ltd (TBD)
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane	SPEC Co.Ltd (TBD)

As a next step, the capacity assessment for technology adaptation has started for the three partnerships. From October 2021 to April 2022, testing and prototyping of the technology will take place and the dissemination of the initiative’s results is planned in May 2022.

Further questions on this initiative should be directed at Saori Imaizumi at simaizumi@worldbank.org