By Jones Gadama
In a bid to ensure long-term sustainability and integration into university structures and national development frameworks, Malawi’s Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Jessie Kabwila, has called for the institutionalization of Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs).
Speaking at the Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence 10th Anniversary in Accra, Ghana, Dr. Kabwila emphasized the importance of embedding ACE activities within the strategic frameworks, governance, and operations of universities.
The ACE program, launched in 2014 across Africa with support from the World Bank, has made significant strides in strengthening institutional capacity, expanding high-quality postgraduate training, and accelerating applied research.
Malawi, which started the ACE II project in 2016, has established six ACEs at the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), Mzuzu University (MZUNI), and the University of Malawi (UNIMA).
Dr. Kabwila highlighted numerous achievements of the ACE II project in Malawi, including training over 1,000 MSc students and over 120 PhD students, international accreditation of programs at LUANAR, publication of over 350 papers in referred journals, and establishment of enterprise incubation hubs and spinoffs at MZUNI, LUANAR, and UNIMA.
However, she lamented the short project timeframe, which poses significant risks to long-term sustainability.
Other challenges include delays in funding disbursement, limited infrastructure, and coordination challenges among coordination and implementing partners like the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM).
To address these challenges, Dr. Kabwila proposed a new ACE program aimed at integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, climate and hydrological modeling, and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms to support agri-systems and real-time monitoring.
This new program will focus on large-scale agricultural commercialization, aligning with Malawi’s development agenda.
The Minister’s call for institutionalization serves as a timely reminder of the importance of embedding these centers within university structures and national development frameworks.
By addressing the challenges and harnessing the potential of ACEs, we can unlock a brighter future for Africa’s higher education sector and drive innovation and economic growth.
