Accra, Ghana, October 5, 2023 –  The Association of African Universities (AAU) is calling on all higher education institutions across the continent to join the commemoration of this year’s Africa Universities’ Day. A week-long schedule of activities, slated for Monday November 6, through to Friday November 10, 2023, have been lined up for the celebrations, which also marks 56 years of the AAU’s existence and service to Africa’s higher education sector. This year’s theme, “Artificial Intelligence (AI) in African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs)”, underscores the critical need for HEIs in Africa to adopt progressive strategies to guide the usage and integration of emerging technologies such as AI and use these opportunities to improve educational outcomes.

The Africa Universities’ Day is a key statutory event on the AAU’s calendar, observed annually to commemorate the founding of the Association on November 12, 1967, in Rabat, Morocco, as well as to highlight the contributions of the higher education sector to the development of the African continent. It also seeks to bring together academic leaders, policymakers, students, and industry experts to deliberate on key challenges and opportunities facing African universities. With the rapid advancement of technology and the increasing importance of AI in various sectors, this year’s theme was aptly chosen to discuss advancements in augmented reality, virtual reality, natural language processing, the internet of things, and other emerging technologies – and how these impact teaching, learning, research, collaboration, lifelong learning, ethics and privacy, and the administrative functions of African HEIs.

“Over the span of 56 years, the AAU has been at the forefront of higher education excellence, making significant strides in the transformation of Africa’s higher education landscape. As we proudly commemorate this remarkable milestone and celebrate the 2023 Africa Universities’ Day, we acknowledge the invaluable contributions and unwavering support of our member universities and stakeholders. Their dedication has played an instrumental role in strengthening the AAU, establishing it as the authentic voice of higher education in Africa. We look forward to the continued collaboration and commitment of our stakeholders as we chart, with lucidity and pragmatism, the path towards the Association’s future.” – Prof. Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General, AAU.

In line with the AAU’s ongoing commitment to enhance the experience and accommodate the diverse needs of our esteemed participants, this year’s event will seamlessly blend in-person and virtual components. The virtual events will be held via the AAU Zoom platform and streamed live on AAU TV as well as our social media pages on Facebook and YouTube. The physical venue is the AAU Secretariat Office in East Legon, Accra, Ghana while the final event to climax the weeklong celebrations will hold at a selected AAU member university campus in Ghana.

This year’s commemoration will feature a series of insightful high-level panel discussions and keynote presentations by experts, scholars, and leaders from academia, industry, and the public sector. There will also be a student engagement forum organized by the AAU TV as well as a members-only training workshop for university registrars and administrators. Further details on the theme and topics to be discussed are highlighted in the concept notes which can be accessed in ENGLISH, FRENCH, ARABIC and PORTUGUESE. The registration link is made available here –    https://bit.ly/44MysCN.

The 2023 Africa Universities Day promises to be an engaging and thought-provoking event that will provide the much-needed platform for deliberations on Artificial Intelligence in higher education in Africa. African higher education institutions are encouraged to commemorate the day within their campuses by arranging engaging events in the form of seminars, debates, exhibitions, social media dialogues, conferences, webinars, and other activities, aimed at exploring the theme and maximizing Africa’s gains from Artificial Intelligence. Alternatively, in cases where such initiatives are not feasible, higher education institutions and other stakeholders are urged to participate in the AAU Secretariat’s planned activities.

AAU encourages the management of universities, to circulate information concerning the 2023 Africa Universities Day celebrations to the Ministries of Education, University Councils, Committees of Vice-Chancellors, and all institutions involved in the management of Higher Education Institutions for their attention and participation in the events. Other public and private universities in each country which are non-members of the AAU, research institutions, the media and public should also be invited to join the celebrations to give visibility to the Africa Universities Day and promote the activities of Higher Education Institutions in each country.

AAU – The Voice of Higher Education in Africa!!

—————————————————————————————————————

Media Contact

Mrs. Felicia Nkrumah Kuagbedzi, Senior Communications and Publications Officer, AAU- fnkrumah@aau.org

Ms. Naomi Darko, Communications Assistant, AAU – ndarko@aau.org

About the Association of African Universities

The AAU is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization created by African Universities to promote cooperation among them on the one hand, and between them and the international academic community on the other. Created in 1967, the AAU is the voice of higher education in Africa and aims to improve the quality of African higher education and strengthen its contribution to Africa’s development by supporting the core functions of higher education institutions and facilitating critical reflections and consensus building on issues affecting higher education. The AAU headquartered in Accra, Ghana has a membership of more than 400 Higher Education Institutions and is the technical implementing arm of the African Union Commission (AUC) in higher education. The Association is also the coordinating agency of the Higher Education Cluster of the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 16-25). Through our guidance, our member universities are also responsible for implementing the AUC’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2024).