By Eugenia Otenwaa
Accra, April 10, GNA- Dr Clement Apaak, Deputy Minister of Education, has encouraged African higher institutions of learning to continue to empower the African through research and knowledge transfer to drive the continent’s development.
He made the remarks at the close of the high-level three-day forum in Accra, celebrating 10 years of the African Higher Education Centre of Excellence (ACE) programme.
Launched in 2014, the ACE initiative is a collaborative effort by African governments to drive continental development and growth.
The event was co-organised by the Ghana Tertiary Education Commission, the Association of African Universities, and the Inter-University Council for East Africa, with the support of the World Bank and the French Development Agency.
The forum brought together approximately 500 participants from across Africa, including higher education and finance ministers, members of academia and research institutes, and development partners.
Dr Apaak called for a fundamental shift from “evolution to revolution” in how Africa approached research, innovation and human capacity development.
The Minister emphasised that with the current phase of World Bank support for the ACE programme concluding this year, African institutions faced the critical challenge of ensuring financial sustainability while scaling up their impact.
“The ACE programme has laid the foundation for a knowledge-driven economy powered by African talent, research and solutions,” he said, highlighting the programme’s strategic importance to the continent’s development agenda.
The forum showcased ACE institutions that have delivered exceptional quality of research, innovation and diverse output over the past decade, with significant contributions to fields, including health, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), and agriculture.
The Deputy Minister laid out a clear roadmap for the next decade of transformation, calling for continued investment in research aligned with national priorities, expanded innovative ecosystems, and stronger collaborations among academia, industry, and government.
“We need to foster a culture of entrepreneurship and creativity to further accelerate our progress, driving economic growth, improving livelihoods and enhancing our global competitiveness,” he stated.
Participants were urged to engage and renew their commitment to each other and work towards the financial and institutional sustainability of the ACE model.
“Together, we can create a better future for Africa’s higher education sector and by extension, the continent’s economic and social development,” he added.
GNA
SOF