To develop and retain world-class human resources in areas essential to African development, links between universities across the continent need to be strengthened. The Pan-African University (PAU) is creating and connecting regional knowledge ‘hubs’ to capitalise on the experience and intellectual resources of the best African universities. The network will be officially launched on 13-14 December 2011 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

“The Pan-African University (PAU) is a culmination of efforts to revitalise higher education and research in Africa and reposition the African university at the centre of Africa's development agenda,” explains Beatrice Njenga, Head of the Education Division at the African Union Commission’s Directorate of Human Resources, Science and Technology. “It will exemplify excellence in every area of education and research, promote intra-African networking and collaboration in higher education and research and establish strategic linkages with some leading universities and research centres outside Africa.”

Another positive effect will be the increase in intra-African mobility of researchers and students.

Five regional thematic networks are being established. Each of them hosts a thematic hub concentrating on specific academic domains and linked to ‘satellite campuses’ located in various African countries.

“It is a human network relying on the creation of nodes. Each node has a particular specialty,” says Harry De Backer, Minister Counselor at the EU Delegation to the African Union in Addis Ababa.

The five thematic focus areas, selected based on their relevance as well as the widening gap in Africa in these fields, are:

• Science, Technology and Innovation
• Water and Energy
• Life and Earth Sciences
• Space Sciences
• Governance and related issues

These disciplines will be developed in five selected Institutes of Higher Education located in the five geographical regions of the continent: North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa and Southern Africa.

The first nodes to be launched are: the earth and life sciences campus at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria; the basic sciences, technology and innovation campus at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya; and the governance, humanities and social sciences campus at the University of Yaoundé I in Cameroon. The campuses for space sciences and water and energy are yet to be decided.

Activities will include teaching and research at post-graduate level, as well as the accelerated exchange and dissemination of research results within the networks.

The initiative will have a cross-cutting impact on the different objectives defined in the framework of the Africa-EU partnership. “It will have an impact on every individual partnership between the EU and Africa,” stresses Mr De Backer, pointing out that the large pool of highly qualified Africans will make it possible to address the development challenges on the African continent more efficiently.

Support through various actors and schemes

The PAU is financed from different sources including the host countries, the African Union as well as the so-called “lead thematic partners”. These are international agencies or developed countries which provide financial support and coordination services.

Once the network is up and running, it will have the possibility to apply for funding, capacity-building activities, mobility scholarships or research support from EU sources including Erasmus Mundus, Edulink, Nyerere and the EU research programmes.

A framework for the PAU is provided by the revised Arusha Process. “The Arusha Convention is an African regional convention for mutual recognition of university degrees and certificates – much like the Bologna process,” Ms Njenga explains. The process aims to create a Higher Education Space within Africa.

Visit the website of Pan African University