The fourth biannual Regional Workshop of the Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) will take place from October 19-27, 2020. The ACE Impact Fall 2020 workshop will hold in the virtual space due to restrictions on mobility imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure the safety of all participants, the organisers have said.
The Association of African Universities (AAU), which organises the event, said in a statement that the meeting will bring together the 53 Centres of Excellence and key stakeholders including government representatives from participating countries, Vice Chancellors, players of the higher education sector, the private sector and policy think-tanks. Also to attend are partners including the World Bank, the French Development Agency and the Association of African Universities.
“The overarching objective of the ACE Impact, October 2020 Virtual Workshop is to provide participating Centres, their host institutions, and governments with the tools and information necessary to implement the project and help achieve its objectives despite the current global pandemic, which has had a significant impact on all aspects of higher education.
“The ACE impact project broadly targets strengthening post-graduate training and applied research in existing fields and supporting new fields that are essential for Africa’s economic growth,” said the statement.
The AAU said the specific key focus areas of the workshop will include to provide centres the opportunity to share and to learn best practices on higher education excellence and relevance, and take stock of the status of progress towards fulfilling the Implementation Plans, earning Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs) and advancing centre and project objectives.
Also on the agenda is the sharing global best practice on institutional resilience, re-opening universities, and digital education; plan key next steps for each country, institution, and Centre in implementing projects in challenging social, health and academic environments and a host of others.
The Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence (ACE) Project is a World Bank initiative in collaboration with governments of participating countries to support Higher Education institutions in specialising in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Agriculture, and Health.