The Association of African Universities (AAU), the Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU), of the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project, is pleased to announce the conditional selection of 44 centres of excellence in 12 participating countries in West and Central Africa (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Togo) under the ACE for Development Impact (ACE Impact) Project.

West and Central African countries, with support from the World Bank and the Association of African Universities, launched the regional Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project in 2014. Building upon the successful implementation of the ACE 1 Project, the World Bank is supporting the current ACE Impact Project which is focused on scaling up postgraduate education and applied research that are fundamental to economic growth in the region. Further, the supported universities should meet global standards for quality of education, recruit students across the region and collaborate with other African universities. The total investment across the countries is expected to reach USD 300 million, with funding from the World Bank and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD).

An independent team of evaluators, consisting of members from the African educational and scientific community supported by diaspora and global technical experts, reviewed 105 proposals that were submitted to the RFU by higher education institutions from the participating countries. Proposals were subjected to several stages of evaluation including: (i) desk reviews in which each proposal was reviewed by two experts in Accra, Ghana; (ii) external evaluation in which each proposal was remotely assessed by a subject matter specialist, and (iii) a site & leadership evaluation in which a team of experts visited shortlisted proposal sites to ascertain the readiness of the institutions in terms of governance, leadership, and infrastructure.
At the end of the rigorous and transparent evaluation exercise, the following proposals have been conditionally selected as centres of excellence by the ACE Impact Ministerial Project Steering Committee at its meeting in Accra, Ghana, on Friday, 2nd November 2018. This Committee consisted of five Ministers in charge of Higher education and seven high-level government representatives from the participating governments.

The final selection of the Centers is conditional upon: (i) the approval of the financing from the external financiers (World Bank and the French Development Agency) and availability of sufficient financing for all the proposals; (ii) the selected universities incorporate the recommendations of the evaluators into their implementation plans, and (iii) the universities demonstrate sufficient capacity to manage the funds for their intended purpose. For the selected centers where all of these conditions are met, it is planned that they will be approved for funding by April 2019.

S/NO. PROJECT TITLE LEAD INSTITUTION COUNTRY TOPIC DISCIPLINE
EXISTING CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE THAT HAVE BEEN CONDITIONALLY SELECTED FOR RENEWAL
1 CEA EN SCIENCES MATHEMATIQUES, INFORMATIQUE ET APPLICATIONS University of Abomey Calavi Benin Applied math & statistics STEM
2 CEA POUR LA FORMATION ET LA RECHERCHE EN SCIENCES ET TECHNOLOGIES DE L’EAU, L’ENERGIE ET L’ENVIRONNEMENT EN AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST ET DU CENTRE (CEA-2IE) 2iE Burkina Faso Water, energy and environment STEM
3 CEA MINES ET ENVIRONNEMENT MINIER (CEA-MEM) INP-HB Cote d’Ivoire Mining STEM
4 CEA CHANGEMENT CLIMATIQUE, BIODIVERSITE ET AGRICULTURE DURABLE (CEA-CCBAD) Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny Cote d’Ivoire Climate change Agriculture
5 CEA: STATISTIQUE ET ECONOMIE QUANTITATIVE ENSEA Cote d’Ivoire Statistics & quantitative economics Soc./Econ Sci.
6 REGIONAL WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION CENTRE KUMASI (RWESCK) KNUST Ghana Transport STEM
7 WEST AFRICAN CENTRE FOR CELL BIOLOGY OF INFECTIOUS AND NON- COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (WACCBIP + NCDS) University of Ghana Ghana Cell biology of infectious e diseases Health
8 WEST AFRICA CENTRE FOR CROP IMPROVEMENT (WACCI) University of Ghana Ghana Crop Improvement Agriculture
9 ACE IN GENOMICS OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES (ACEGID) Redeemer’s University Nigeria Genomics of infectious diseases Health
10 ACE FOR NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES AND FORENSIC BIOTECHNOLOGY (ACENTDFB) Ahmadu Bello University Nigeria Neglected tropical diseases Health
11 ACE FOR REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH INNOVATION (CERHI) University of Benin Nigeria Reproductive Health Health
12 ACE IN DRY LAND AGRICULTURE (CDA) Bayero University, Kano Nigeria Dryland Agriculture Agriculture
13 CENTRE FOR FOOD TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH (CEFTER) Benue State University Nigeria Food tech and research Agriculture
14 ACE: OAU ICT-DRIVEN KNOWLEDGE PARK (OAU-OAK) OAU Nigeria Digital Development STEM
15 CENTER FOR OILFIELD CHEMICALS RESEARCH (CEFOR) University of Port Harcourt Nigeria Oil and gas STEM
16 CEA MATHÉ-MATIQUES, INFORMATIQUE ET TIC (CEA-MITIC) Univ. Gaston Berger Senegal Digital Development STEM
17 CEA POUR LA SANTE DE LA MERE ET DE L’ENFANT (CEA-SAMEF) Université Cheikh Anta Diop Senegal Maternal & infant health Health
18 CENTRE D’EXCELLENCE REGIONAL SUR LES SCIENCES AVIAIRES (CERSA) Université de Lomé Togo Poultry science Agriculture
NEW CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE THAT ARE CONDITIONALLY SELECTED
19 CENTRE D’EXCELLENCE AFRICAIN POUR L’EAU ET L’ASSAINISSEMENT (C2EA) Université Abomey Calavi Benin Water & sanitation STEM
20 CENTRE DE FORMATION, DE RECHERCHE ET D’EXPERTISES EN SCIENCES DU MEDICAMENT Université de Ouaga I Burkina Faso Pharmaceutical Science Health
21 CEA ET INNOVATION BIOTECHNOLOGIQUES POUR L’ELIMINATION DES MALADIES A TRANS-MISSION VECTORIELLE (CEA/ITECH-MTV) Université Nazi Boni Burkina Faso Biotech for eliminating vector transmitted diseases Health
22 ACE FOR POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION University of Buea Cameroon OBGYN -Medical education Health
23 CEA: VALORISATION DES DECHETS EN PRODUITS A HAUTE VALEUR AJOUTEE (VALOPRO) INPHB CDI Waste management and value-added STEM
24 REGIONAL TRANSPORT TRAINING AND RESEARCH CENTRE KNUST Ghana Transport STEM
25 ACE:REGIONAL CENTER FOR ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (RCEES) University of Energy & Natural Resources Ghana Power STEM
26 WEST AFRICAN CENTER FOR WATER, IRRIGATION AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE University of Development Studies Ghana Water & irrigation STEM
27 AFRICA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE IN COASTAL RESILIENCE (ACECoR) University of Cape Coast Ghana Coastal Degradation STEM
28 WEST AFRICA GENETIC MEDICINE CENTRE University of Ghana Ghana Genetic medicine Health
29 CENTRE D’EXCELLENCE AFRICAIN POUR LA PREVENTION ET LE CONTROLE DES MALADIES TRANSMISSIBLES (CEA PCMT) Université Gamal Abdel Nasser de Conakry Guinea Prevention & control of transmittable diseases Health
30 CENTRE D’EXCELLENCE REGIONAL SUR LES PRODUCTIONS PASTORALES : VIANDE, LAIT, CUIRS ET PEAUX (CERPP) Université Abdou Moumouni Niger Livestock Agriculture
31 AFRICA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (ACETEL) National open university of Nigeria Nigeria Digital Development STEM
32 COVENANT APPLIED INFORMATICS AND COMMUNICATION Covenant University Nigeria Digital Development STEM
33 ACE: AFRICA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE ON NEW PEDAGOGY IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION (ACENPEE) Ahmadu Bello University Nigeria Engineering education STEM
34 AFRICA CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE: PUBLIC HEALTH AND TOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH University of Port Harcourt Nigeria Nursing Health
35 ACE: CENTRE FOR POPULATION HEALTH AND POLICY Bayero University Nigeria Nursing Health
36 AFRICAN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR MYCOTOXIN AND FOOD SAFETY Federal University of Technology Minna Nigeria Mycotoxin and food safety Health
37 ACE: DRUG RESEARCH, HERBAL MEDICINE DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATORY SCIENCE University of Lagos Nigeria Herbal medicine and regulation Health
38 CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR INNOVATIVE AND TRANSFORMATIONS STEM EDUCATION (CITSE) Lagos State University Nigeria STEM Education Education
39 ACE FOR SUSTAINABLE POWER ANS ENERGY DEVELOPMENT (ACE_SPED) University of Nigeria Nsukka Nigeria Power STEM
40 CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN FUTURE ENERGIES AND ELECTROCHEMICAL SYSTEMS Federal University of Technology Owerri Nigeria Renewable energy STEM
41 CEA « AGIR » EN ENVIRONNEMENT ET SANTE Université Cheikh Anta Diop Senegal Env & Health STEM
42 CEA AGRICULTURE POUR LA SECURITE ALIMENTAIRE ET NUTRITIONNELLE (CEA AGRISAN) Université Cheikh Anta Diop Senegal Food security & nutrition Agriculture
43 CENTRE D’EXCELLENCE REGIONAL POUR LA MAITRISE DE L’ELECTRICITE (CERME) Universite de Lome Togo Power STEM
44 CENTRE D’EXCELLENCE REGIONAL VILLES DURABLES EN AFRIQUE (DOUNEDON) Université de Lomé Togo Urban Design Soc./Econ Sci.