Featured Articles – Page 8 – ACE – Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence

Caption for the photo - Gambian Minister (3rd right) and delegation stand with officials from ACE Impact Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU) and the Ghana Technical Education Commission (GTEC)

August 11, 2021August 25, 2021

Gambian Minister of Higher Education and Delegation visit ACE Impact Centre (KEEP) to Strengthen Existing Collaboration and Partnership

The strong collaboration between the Gambian Ministry of Higher Education and the KNUST Engineering Education Project (KEEP) is a shining example of successful regional collaboration and one that the ACE Impact project promotes.

On June 1, 2021, honorable Badara A. Joof, the Minister of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) of The Gambia and a delegation from the Gambian Technical Training Institute (GTTI) visited the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and the ACE Impact Center – KEEP, hosted by the KNUST in Ghana.

The KNUST Engineering Education Project (KEEP) has a collaboration with the GTTI and provides mentorship to help transform the technical Institute into a technical university, with the capacity to offer core engineering degree programs. The purpose of the meeting included strengthening collaboration between the two parties in the areas of offering short-courses, training, and mentorship of PhD students, enrolling mature students, training of MSc. students to serve as Research Assistants and Laboratory Technicians and to officially finalize the contractual agreement between GTTI and KNUST.

The Gambian delegation was received by the Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Professor (Mrs.) Rita Akosua Dickson, who assured the team of the institution’s commitment to ensuring an effective collaboration and implementation of the key areas of the partnership. The team also took advantage of their presence in KNUST to interact with students from the Gambia (47 undergraduates, 10 PhDs and 2 Master’s students) who have been enrolled in the Department of Civil, Electrical and Electronic and Mechanical Engineering in KNUST.

Meeting with the AAU, University of Ghana, and the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission

The Regional Facilitation Unit of the ACE Impact Project, the Association of African Universities (AAU), facilitated meetings between the Gambian delegation and the University of Ghana, the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC) and the AAU Team. In all three institutions the delegation was received by the heads of the institutions, – the Secretary General, Prof. Etienne Ehile of the AAU, the Vice – Chancellor, Prof. Ebenezer Oduro Owusu of the University of Ghana, and the Director-General of the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission (GTEC), Prof. Mohammed Salifu.

Key discussions at these meetings focused on the parties’ identifying key ways of strengthening existing collaboration between Ghana and the Gambia in Education. Prof. Badara Joof, the Gambian Minister of Education reiterated the Gambia’s high regard for higher education institutions in Ghana and generally the West Africa sub-region. He called on the institutions they visited (UG, AAU and GTEC) to help build Gambia’s capacity in quality assurance and other relevant areas to enable the country achieve excellence in their tertiary and higher education sector.

August 11, 2021August 23, 2021

Prof Hadiza Shehu Galadanci-The importance of mentorship to develop future female leaders

Prof. Hadiza Shehu Galadanci is the center leader for the Africa Center of Excellence for Population Health and Policy (ACE PHAP), hosted in Bayero University Kano, Nigeria. As one of the two female Centre leaders under the ACE Impact project, the AAU communications teams engaged her to hear her story and to highlight key leadership lessons and qualities for success, in a bid to inspire the next generation of female leaders.

Education and Background

Prof. Galadanci obtained her medical degree (MBBS) in 1987 at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in Nigeria. With an impressive academic track record, she was awarded the Fellowship of West African College in 1998 from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. She then obtained an MSc degree in reproductive health and sexual health research (MSc RHSHR) from the University College London, UK and a Diploma from the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (LSTM&H), UK. She has been a member of the Royal College of Surgeon (MRCOG) since 2002 and a Fellow of the Royal College (FRCOG) since 2014. In addition, she obtained a Project Management Diploma from Galilee International Management Institute, Israel, in 2018.

Prof. Galadanci’s Leadership Journey

From 2002-2006, She was the Head of Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, at the Faculty of Medicine, Bayero University Kano. She also served as the President of the Medical Women Association of Nigeria, Kano State Branch in the years 2002-2008. Having excelled in the various leadership capacities she had occupied, Prof. Galandanci continued to be noticed, and be appointed to serve in numerous high level positions, including serving as the Director for the Centre for Advanced Medical Research and Training, Bayero University Kano (BUK), the Coordinator of Masters in Reproductive Health Program in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Bayero University Kano, and the Vice-Chairperson for the National Reproductive Working Group (NRWG), 2008- 2014. She has been the Director/Center Leader for the African Center of Excellence for Population Health and Policy, BUK, since 2019.

Key Achievements and Awards Received

Prof. Galadanci made history as the first female professor in medicine in her institution and in her state (Kano State, Nigeria). In recognition of Professor Hadiza Shehu Galadanci’s outstanding efforts and contributions to the medical and health sector, she received the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Women Award in 2018, at the FIGO World Congress, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

She has also received many awards and honors , including ; the Distinguished Merit Award in recognition of her contribution to strengthening maternal health in Nigeria, (July, 2005); Merit Award presented by FEDWA in recognition of her immense contribution to Women’s Development and Capacity Building, (2008); REAGEM Award for her Outstanding Capacity Building in Health and Disease, (2009); and Paul Harrison’s Fellow Award presented by Rotary International in appreciation of her significant assistance in promoting a better understanding and friendly relationship amongst people of the world, (2009).

Additionally, Professor Hadiza received a KAMSA Merit Award from the Kano State Medical Students Association in recognition of her immense contribution to the Development and Progress of Medical Students in Kano State, (2010); Red Ribbon Award for Dedication and Outstanding Commitment to Combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria presented by Masterpiece Health and Development, (2010); Kano State Government Merit Award in recognition of her outstanding achievement/contributions to the Government and people of Kano State, (1st October, 2010); and Kano State Certificate of Honor in recognition of the immense contributions of Professor Hadiza Shehu Galadanci to Kano State.

Excelling as a Woman

“Being a leader requires a number of skills including being hard working, innovative, a good team player and having good management skill. However, for a female to be successful as a leader she must work twice as hard as her male counterpart and still find a good balance as a wife, mother, and career woman”, she said.

Hadiza talks about the importance a good family support system plays and expressed gratitude to her parents, spouse, and children. “I could not have been where I am without the unrelenting support, assistance, and encouragement from my parents and my husband, as well as the sacrifice of my children”.

She emphasizes the key role mentorship plays and encourages all females in leadership positions to purposefully mentor younger colleagues, and give them all the support, guidance, encouragement, and inspiration, they require to achieve their full potentials. “My first Mentor was my father, whom I always look up to and wanted to become like him, a Professor and I thank God that I was able to achieve that. I have also had my teachers as my mentors along the way. Along my journey I received guidance, support, assistance and inspiration from my mentors. These have been very key to my success and have contributed greatly to what I am today. Therefore, I think mentorship is very essential to guide, support, encourage, assist, and inspire the younger colleagues to be able to achieve their full potentials. The younger female colleagues really look up to the females in leadership positions to mentor them.”

August 11, 2021August 24, 2021

Student voices-Archam Ben Cheikh Hamidi

Archam Ben Cheikh Hamidi is a Comorian student enrolled at the African Centre of Excellence in Mines and Mining Environment (CEA MEM) of the National Polytechnic Institute Félix Houphoet Boigny – Cote d’ivoire. Archam is currently in his third year undertaking a Masters in Design Engineer Cycle. Archam tells us that he chose CEA-MEM because of the quality of technical water training that was being offered by the center. This, along with his passionate belief that this area is a “core pillar for the development of Africa” are what drives Archam in pursing post-graduate education.

When asked what he appreciated most about being a CEA-MEM student, Archam tell us “the work environment which greatly facilitated my course, both in terms of the equipment made available for training, and in terms of supervision.” ACE Impact project facilitates the provision of state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for the centres to ensure students have the highest quality education. Archam’s career goals is “to carry out projects with socio-economic impacts and greatly contribute to the development of my country and Africa in terms of scientific research, particularly those aimed at providing solutions to water-related problems.” When asked what advice he would give to other young students beginning the journey in pursuing master’s degree, Archam said “strive for excellence in work. A centre of Excellence like this is the perfect place to ensure good training.”

June 14, 2021June 16, 2021

Leveraging blockchain to create learning and employment pathways for African Youth: Regional Digital Skills Project launches Recruitment Dashboard

A new and impactful online platform has launched to equip young African students with a repository to digitally house their credentials whilst directly connecting them to potential employers. The recruitment dashboard piloted under the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Digital Skills Pilot Initiative provides a single platform for students/graduates and companies to match more efficiently, addressing the challenges of university- to-work transitions and improving recruitment practices in Africa.

A first of its kind in Africa, this collaboration between the World Bank, the German Development Cooperation represented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and Digital Skills Accelerator Africa (DSAA) merges public and private sector engagement in a unique way, addressing Africa’s most pertinent issues, youth skills mismatch and youth unemployment. Through the ACE projects, the World Bank is providing funding to African universities to train their future workforce, whilst GIZ and DSAA connect international and African companies to training and hiring talented African students.

The recruitment dashboard is being piloted in two ACE universities, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana and Moi University in Kenya, with just under 200 undergraduate engineering and computer science students who have collectively completed more than 110 courses, receiving a total of 9,500 blockchain certificates through the platform. It allows students and recent graduates to create personalised profiles and upload their credentials online, that are fully accessible to multiple employers, thus significantly cutting down recruitment time and costs. IBM and FutureLearn provide access to over 150 free accredited courses to help students bridge the identified digital skills gap.

Allowing for a seamless connection to recruiters, the dashboard provides a single space for companies to search and directly email potential recruits. “We have partnered with VerifyEd, a UK-based company, on this innovative platform to give recruiters easy access to a large pool of qualified and skilled potential workforce, whilst increasing student’s online visibility, giving them a competitive advantage”, says Halil Dundar, Practice Manager, Education Global Practice at the World Bank. “This investment has a great potential and supports Africa’s jobs and economic transformation agenda”.

In the context of Invest for Jobs of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ mobilises international and African companies through DSAA initiative. DSAA is an independent organisation focused on training highly skilled digital workforce talent in Africa, creating business opportunities for companies and individuals. Two member companies of DSAA, AmaliTech and getINNOtized, each with 300 vacancies in the 2021 calendar year, are participating in the recruitment dashboard pilot, providing a wide array of core digital skills- related job opportunities (both in-person and remote work) for the students.

“We believe the ACE Recruitment Dashboard will augment our recruitment strategies to target graduates with IT, Computer Science, and Engineering backgrounds to join our AmaliTech Training Academy. This will enrich our pool of graduate recruits for free professional IT/digital skills training for employment pathways in the tech ecosystem.” Richard Botchway, AmaliTech’s HR Specialist (Diversity & Inclusion) says.

The platforms filter functionality has been popular amongst recruiters. For Gideon Sackey, Dean of Students, getINNOtized: “Identifying the right candidate for the right job is always a hurdle for recruiters. This process is made simpler and efficient by the platform. The filtering features on the platform enable us to filter by skill, certifications, etc, saving time in our candidate selection process”.

Jerry Kponyo, the Dean of Faculty at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, one of the pilot universities, sees great potential and success of the recruitment dashboard: “Where recruiters are able to have access to such critical information [verified credentials], the students seeking employment would not have to struggle to communicate what they are capable of. The displayed certifications are self-advertising.”

The World Bank, GIZ, DSAA and the various partners hope this initiative opens the doors for innovative use of blockchain technology in education on the continent; promotes a strong culture of micro-credentialing; creates an ecosystem promoting job opportunities for the African youth, as well as continued private and public collaboration. The results of the pilot are highly anticipated and will be key to the evolution of blockchain technology for the development of the African continent.

About Invest for Jobs

DSAA is supported by German Development Cooperation in the context of Invest for Jobs. Under the Invest for Jobs brand, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has put together a package of measures to support German, European and African companies in investment activities that have a high impact on employment in Africa. The Special Initiative on Training and Job Creation – the official title – offers comprehensive advice, contacts and financial support to overcome investment barriers. The development objective is to team up with companies to create good jobs and apprenticeships in the partner countries, of which there are currently eight, and to preserve them during the Covid-19 pandemic. Further information is available at www.invest-for-jobs.com

About Africa Centers of Excellence Program

The Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) program is a series of regional higher education projects that aim to improve education, training and applied research at the post-graduate level in key priority fields, including science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM), agriculture, health, industry and related fields. The World Bank is supporting the overall ACE Digital Skills Pilot Initiative (launched in 2020) through a trust fund, the Korea-World Bank Partnership Facility. Further information is available at www.ace.aau.org

March 30, 2021April 13, 2021

Innovative research produces patented breakthrough product improving the economic status of women in Burkina Faso

Safiatou TRAORE, a national of Burkina Faso, is enrolled for her PhD studies at the Center for Training, Research and Expertise in Medicine Sciences (CFOREM) hosted by Joseph KI-ZERBO University. She is currently in her 1^st year of doctoral study in ‘Development of Phytomedicines’ and expects to graduate in 2023. She specifically chose to study with CEFOREM because of the high-quality teaching methods and the personal inspiration and guidance from Professor Rasmané SEMDE, who gave her the zeal and courage to not give up after successfully completing her Master’s. She appreciates the fact that she could balance her family life with her research work and studies.

Ms TRAORE PhD research is a continuation of her research at Masters level. Her research title is “research and development of creams based on honey, shea butter and Burkinabè plant extracts for the treatment of burns”. She indicated that in Burkina Faso, 13.7% of children under the age of 5 are admitted in hospitals for burns (2015). The local treatment of burns is currently based on expensive imported products which are financially inaccessible to the majority of the population.

Safiatou aims to develop a stable honey-shea-butter cream for the local treatment of burns to help support those most vulnerable who cannot afford to purchased imported burn treatment creams. The two raw materials are proven to have healing properties and most importantly, are locally produced, readily available, and at a low cost. “This research will not only produce an affordable local treatment for burns, but will also create new outlets and commercial opportunities for the honey and shea butter producers, who are mainly women’s associations in Burkina Faso.”

The patent of this innovative and problem-solving research product has been registered with the African Intellectual Property Organization, an intellectual property organization headquartered in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The shea-butter-honey cream is already on high demand by Burkinabè clinicians and pediatric surgeons. The Joseph KI-ZERBO University incubation office has invested in this product, including it within their framework as a university start up business. A business plan has been developed for its commercial exploitation and expansion.

The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) defines a patent as “a set of exclusive rights granted by law to applicants for inventions that are new, non-obvious and commercially applicable”. Patents are important because they allow holders to commercially exploit their inventions on an exclusive basis. The global patent system is intended to inspire innovation by giving creators time-limited exclusive legal rights, thus assisting them to appropriate the returns from their innovation.

In the short term Ms TRAORE wishes to participate in the valorization of local Burkinabe natural resources. Medium to long term, she hopes to become a seasoned academic, continuing to share and pass on knowledge and experience to build the next generation of female scientists. Safiatou’s academic journey has made her a strong believer in developing research capabilities of Africa. “There is no need to aim to only enroll in PhD programs in western universities.” Many women find it challenging to leave their families for studies – thus eventually not pursuing PhDs. Ms TRAORE advises that opportunities do exist in Burkina Faso for quality doctoral training and research programs. As a special plea to women, she states “sometimes family conditions hold back the ambitions of women to pursue their doctorate studies. Through centers in Africa like CEFOREM, which create conducive conditions for their female candidates – it is now possible for female scientists to enroll for their PhDs.”

Safiatou tells us that “studying at CEFOREM has proved to be rewarding because of the availability of the supervision team, the accessibility of reagents and consumables, the excellent support provided to each student and the presence of foreign students that allows exchange of experiences.” The ACE for development impact centers are demonstrating that through student-led research it is possible to foster creativity and innovation for economic growth and development in Africa.

March 30, 2021April 13, 2021

Expanding opportunities for young African female scientists to reimagine their dreams

Jessica Nnenna Uwanibe is one of many young female scientists enrolled in a PHD/Master’s program at one of the ACE Impact II centers. Jessica is scheduled to complete her PhD studies in Molecular Biology and Genomics at the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) hosted by Redeemer’s University in Nigeria. Her research work is focused on identifying and comprehending drug resistant patterns of Salmonella species in South West Nigeria, research she hopes will help treat thousands of people, reduce suffering, and save lives. Salmonella are types of bacteria that can cause diarrheal illness in humans, typhoid fever, gastroenteritis and other related illnesses. “This research will work to inform the proper diagnosis of Salmonella related diseases and suggest improved monitoring policies in Nigeria.”

As a young and upcoming African Scientist, Miss Uwanibe has always wanted to solve global health challenges through her research. Her career goal is to achieve this by enrolling for a Postdoctoral fellowship to focus on translational infectious diseases research. She aspires to lead large research projects to unravel the mechanisms by which pathogens cause diseases and develop novel therapeutics and vaccines to fight them.

Jessica chose to study her PhD at the Redeemer’s University African Center of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases as she found the field of Molecular Biology and Genomics to be “new, exciting, and innovative.” She tells us how science and engineering centered subjects always had low female participation rates and she wanted to see this change, inspiring the next generation of young women. “ACEGIDs vision really resonates with my own personal vision for using science and research to improve everyday people’s lives.”

As a PhD fellow at ACEGID, Jessica says the aspect she enjoyed the most was being exposed to innovative research and cutting edge molecular tools. This access afforded her the ability to serve Nigeria during this time of crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, which has been “such a life changing opportunity and experience.” She is looking forward to her graduation in September 2021 after four years of intense, but fulfilling research.

Knowledge and resource sharing are at the core of all ACE Impact centers. Miss Uwanibe has benefited from the expertise of her mentors whilst participating as a member of the ACEGID team involved in the pioneering and innovative COVID19 research, led by Professor Christian Happi. “I am so proud to be part of the first team in Africa to successfully sequence the genome of SARS-CoV-2 and share it with the international science community.”

ACEGID has proceeded to identify 10 distinct lineages of SARS-CoV-2 in circulation within Nigeria through genome sequencing and this work has been helpful in steering Nigeria’s public health response. The experiences of being part of the ACEGID team handling the COVID-19 diagnosis and sequencing have given Miss Uwanibe the confidence to reimagine what is possible in the field of health research in Africa moving forward.

Miss Uwanibe’s advice to young people and particularly young women aspiring to do their PhDs is that they must “persevere, be patient, tenacious and be mentally prepared.” Jessica is just one example of the high-quality postgraduate students being trained under the Africa Centers of Excellence for Development Impact Project. The project is positively improving the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in sub-Saharan Africa by supporting regional specialization in thematic areas that address regional challenges.

March 30, 2021April 13, 2021

Building capacities in Francophone Africa

A closer look at Guinea

A total of 26 francophone Africa Centers of Excellence are involved in the ACE Impact project and have been working to improve the quality, quantity, and development impact of postgraduate education in francophone Africa. We focus our lenses on the African Center of Excellence for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases (CEA -PCMT). Hosted by the Gamal Abdel Nasser University of Conakry (UGANC) in Guinea, CEA-PCMT aims to sustainably improve the prevention and control of communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Its objective is to establish at UGANC, a regional program of excellence in training and research on communicable diseases. The center was created in 2019 as part of the ACE Impact project and is offering world class training geared towards innovation and impacting society. This process involves public and private development actors at national, regional, and international levels to achieve its goals.

Programmes Offered

Broadly, the center offers short courses, masters, and doctoral programs on community health, global health and emerging diseases, primary health, quality assurance and research methodology among several other key programmes. In positioning itself as a regional reference center in the prevention and control of communicable diseases in West Africa, the center conducts applied research in partnership with national and international institutions. This applied research is in the following three main areas: Implementation science research, communicable disease surveillance and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance to drugs and products used in the fight against communicable diseases.

Regional and Global Partners

The African Center of Excellence for the Prevention and Control of Communicable Diseases prioritises building strong mutually beneficial partnerships in achieving its key targets. It has partnerships with individuals and units from various higher education institutions including the following: the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; University of Montpellier; University of Sherbrooke; University of Ghana, Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp; and University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB), Mali.

Center Leadership and Contact

Center Leader: Prof. Alexandre DELAMOU

Email address: adelamou@cea-pcmt.org

Deputy Center Leader: Dr. Mariame Sadjo DIALLO

Email address: nenettediallo@yahoo.fr

March 30, 2021April 13, 2021

Inspiring the next Generation of Female Leaders – Professor Grace Jokthan

Prof. Grace Jokthan is the center leader of the Africa Centre of Excellence on Technology Enhanced Learning (ACETEL) and a member of the University Governing Council of the National Open University of Nigeria. She obtained her Bachelor of Agriculture degree in 1990 from the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Nigeria and her Masters and Doctorate degrees from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in 2002 and 2006 respectively. Prof. Jokthan’s key message to younger women in all ACE Impact centers, is “all challenges are surmountable through persistence, hard work and remaining focused.” In an exclusive interview with the ACE Impact communications team, she said that the journey to the top has not been easy, because as a woman, you have to put in almost twice the effort a man does to succeed, especially in the male dominated society that we find ourselves in. “The roles of parenting, housekeeping, academic/office demands can be daunting and requires a delicate balance. I got married at level 100, so all my academic life was also when I had my three children, but with hard work, reaching your goals and being in a strategic leadership position to contribute to the transformation agenda, is within reach” she said.

A glimpse at Prof. Jokthan’s Journey to the Top Leadership Positions Held

Prof. Jokthan started her career in the Department of Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1992 as an Assistant Lecturer and rose to the rank of Associate Professor in 2010. Aside teaching and supervising several students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels within this period, she also served the University in various capacities, including being the Postgraduate Departmental Coordinator, Member of the University Senate Standing Committee and Head of the Department of Animal Science. She was a Member of the Board of Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR) Multi Links Ltd, as well as a Member of the Governing Board of the National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Shika-Zaria. She also served as the Head, Department of Animal Science and Fisheries at the National Open University of Nigeria from 2016 to 2018. “I was a pioneer Council Member of the Nigerian Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) 2007 – 2011. National Process Facilitator and, National Programme Manager for Research Into Use Nigeria (RIU) – Nigeria; a non-governmental DFID funded project that sort to improve the uptake of innovative agricultural research outputs” She added. Prof Jokthan was previously a consultant on the Innovation Platforms to the West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP).

Message to Fellow Senior Colleagues on Mentorship

Having benefitted enormously from the power of mentorship, she is encouraging other senior colleagues involved in the ACE Impact project to mentor the next generation as they strive to attain their potentials. “Mentorship from my senior colleague who always told me not to give up helped me at my low moments and therefore we need to have more focus on providing such mentors in our institutions”, she said.

When asked whether being a female center leader brings any key difference to the project, she intimated that though the Project deliverables (DLI) remain the same, being a woman provides another perspective often not considered that is valuable and has helped in creating a team strong enough to face the task ahead and deliver on the target.

March 30, 2021April 13, 2021

Bridging the Gender Gap – ACE Impact Champions Women, Girls Education, and Leadership

Having more females empowered through the acquisition of higher education degrees and relevant skills has been a key focus of the ACE Impact project. Female enrolment and involvement in the higher education sector, particularly in STEM subjects, has generally been low, with stakeholders being called upon to invest efforts to ensure that the pipeline of women in higher education as students, administrators, researchers, and leaders increases in proportion to the population of women in Africa.

ACE Impact is strategically responding to this call, by highlighting female enrolment as a key disbursement linked indicator in a bid to encourage all centers to prioritise female student enrolment in their centers. Current figures show that the project is making some remarkable progress in closing the gender gap in higher education. For the period January 2019 – December 2020, the number of females enrolled in ACE Impact Centers stood at 3,333, representing 31% of the overall target of enrolling 10,707 females during the project’s life cycle.

The project is advocating and calling on all centers to continue pursuing the set target, strategising new innovative ways to attract more female candidates into their centers until the gender is well and truly closed.

Within higher education, a key area where women are significantly underrepresented is in positions of leadership. With the month of March being dedicated to the celebration of Women (8^th March being International Women’s Day), we focus our attention on one of our female center leaders who is serving as a key role model to young female students and faculty across Africa.

March 30, 2021April 13, 2021

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