Training Workshop on Financial Management
November 8, 2018Press Release: Selection of 44 Centres of Excellence in West and Central Africa for the ACE for Development Impact Project
November 30, 2018Press Release: Selection of 44 Centres of Excellence in West and Central Africa for the ACE Impact Project
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. |