The World Bank-sponsored Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE) programme has initiated the process of collaborating with its European equals, the European Centres of Excellence (ECE). The aim is to commercialise knowledge, products and services as products of research.

The process starts with identifying potential areas of collaboration in research and innovation to cultivate a more effective path for research-to-market outcomes and engage the private sector and investors to support the successful commercialisation of research.

Under the initiative, the ACEs will also create peer-learning opportunities on common topics of interest in the key research areas of health, agriculture, ICT, water, transportation, energy, education, sustainable mining, environment, and engineering disciplines.

The new focus was the centre of deliberations at the Africa Centres of Excellence International Partnership Workshop held from 8-10 May 2024. The workshop built on the July 2023 joint African Union-European Union Innovation Agenda.

Thousands of students published
During the event, it emerged that ACEs enrolled more than 29,000 students in postgraduate studies over the past 10 years, who published 3,000 papers in high-impact journals, boosting scientific research production across the continent.

The project, conceived in 2014, also raised more than US$79 million to help fund some of its activities in centres in all regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the project’s website. The project, which started with ACE I implemented in West and Central African countries before the conception through ACE II and later ACE Impact, has, over the period, not only advanced the frontiers of knowledge production and dissemination and nurtured talent but has also positively transformed the higher education landscapes and economies on the continent, said Professor Olusola B Oyewole, secretary general of the Association of African Universities.

Strides despite challenges
Under the programme, the centres emerged as innovation hubs, driving growth and serving as benchmarks for “ground-breaking research and impactful capacity-building initiatives”, he said. They have empowered a new generation of researchers and entrepreneurs, propelling African universities into the global higher education stage, despite various challenges facing the sector.

“While we have made significant strides within the African higher education landscape, we still face formidable challenges. These challenges, including limited funding, infrastructural deficits, and disparities in access to quality education, demand our collective attention and action,” Oyewole explained.This, however, called for development partners, industry, governments and other key players to catalyse and increase investments in the ACE model to advance higher education to generate the human resources required to, among others, achieve targets of key continental blueprints. These include the African Union’s Agenda 2063, sustainable development goals, and the continental education strategy for Africa, he said.

Centres, hubs instrumental in communities
Under the ACE II initiative implemented in the Eastern and Southern African regions, and later ACE II AF whereby 29 Centres of Excellence and 4 incubation centres have been established, “tremendous achievement” has been recorded, impacting 20,753 people, said Professor Gaspard Banyankimbona, executive secretary of the Inter-University Council of East Africa, who hosts ACE II.

These include training 6,067 masters and 1,497 PhD graduates, plus 3,184 faculty exchanges and 10,005 short courses offered by the centres, resulting in 3,700 publications in peer-reviewed journals. In addition, 242 programmes were accredited, 39 of them internationally, and 362 memoranda of understanding were signed. The total amount generated externally was US$43.5 million.

“These centres and innovation hubs are playing vital roles in the socio-economic development of their respective countries, the region, and the continent,” Banyankimbona said. The workshop also aimed at fostering engagement and knowledge exchange between Africa, Europe, and other continents. It featured government officials from Europe and Africa, private-sector representatives, university leaders, academics, and experts from policy think tanks as well as development partners from the World Bank and the French Agency for International Development (AFD).

Research and innovation cooperation strengthened
Three of the priorities of the AU-EU Innovation Agenda are already aligned with ACE’s intentions. These include establishing AU-EU Centres of Excellence to champion new types of institutional partnerships with transformative potential, developing research and innovation infrastructure to boost the impact and sustainability of cooperation, and supporting excellent African researchers by providing funding to mid-career and senior researchers.

The AU-EU agenda is intended to strengthen research and innovation cooperation between the unions as a key priority, to transform and increase the innovative capacities of researchers and innovators on both continents into tangible outputs, including products, services, businesses and jobs.

This is besides serving as an important platform for strengthening cooperation in science and technology between Africa and Europe in the next decade. According to Daniel Dulitzky, regional director for human development at the World Bank, ACEs ought to jointly delve into common topics of interest that are vital for their collective advancement and uncover and forge new pathways for collaboration in research and innovation that lead to the commercialisation of intellectual pursuits.

Productive research and training
He said the ACEs must aim to draw in the private sector and engage with those who have the means to elevate our research from theory to practice, from the lab to the lives of the people. “The strategic focus of the programme on areas such as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), agriculture, health, environment, and education are by no means arbitrary. It is a calculated effort to maximise the impact of our training and research capabilities, to build a network of expertise that transcends borders and sectors,” Dulitzky said.

Overall, the more than 80 centres at more than 50 universities have been doing research and training in the science and engineering fields, producing hundreds of products and prototypes besides training. Over the 10 years, the World Bank has committed US$657 million in support of ACEs while the AFD has committed US$72 million.