ENTEBBE – Ms Ketty Lamaro, the Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Education and Sports has commended the African Centre of Excellence (ACEII) Project for leading a renaissance of higher education in the region for quality, market-relevant postgraduate education, and collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas: industry, agriculture, health, education and applied statistics.
Lamaro was on Monday officiating at the opening of the 15th ACEII technical and advisory meeting at Imperial Resort Hotel, Entebbe.
The ACE II project was launched in 2016 by the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) in partnership with the World Bank and partner governments.
The project was aimed at strengthening African higher education institutions to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity.
Initially planned for five years from 2016 to 2021, the project would later be extended to 2023 due to COVID-19 interruption.
The project has supported 24 African Centers of Excellence hosted at 16 universities to become specialized regional African Centers of Excellence. The project has eight participating countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
Each of the 24 Africa Centers of Excellence specializes in a defined regional priority area. The priority areas are Industry, Agriculture, Health, Education and Applied Statistics. Each of these Centers has received approximately US$6 million to implement its proposal.
In Uganda, Lamaro says they have witnessed tremendous progress at the four Centres of Excellence hosted at the Universities.
“At the Pharm-Biotechnology and Traditional Medicine Centre– Mbarara University of Science and Technology significant strides have been made in product development and incubation with over 30 prototypes and products being developed and some Trademarks Registered.”
“Notable among these are groundbreaking products including; Covidex that was very instrumental in saving the region from the covid-19 pandemic. Other key products include: Antibacterial peptides from fish, Ghee based Jelly, Beetroot blended Yoghurt, Coffee blended Cosmetics Tea, Anti-arthritic Therapies, Jelly/Lip Balm, Syrup, pesticide), Sleeping Pills, wound healing remedies, diabetics foot cream, diabetic remedies,” she added.
She noted that at Makerere University – College of Engineering, Design & Art, a number of spin-off innovations and products have been fostered, including;
Developed a single-piston diesel engine (this is the first of its kind diesel engine developed in Uganda and in the region from locally available materials/artefacts.
Developed a robotic tractor,
Porch lithium-ion battery cells (developed from coffee and rice husks and in final stages of testing), and nanoparticles for different applications among others.
Lamaro also revealed that the center has established a state-of-the-art laboratory which helps not only researchers on nanotechnology but also government ministries and agencies, which is saving the country a lot of hard currency.
“Uganda Martyrs University developed high-quality animal feed using Black Soldier Fly Larvae (BSFL) in place of the expensive fishmeal and soybeans, enhanced the technology of breeding of indigenous microorganisms (IMOs) for bio-composition, nitrogen soil fixation, and soil fertility regeneration,” she noted, adding that organic/bio pesticides have also been developed and farmers are already using them to control plant pests.
Also, Madam PS revealed that Makerere University has trained 265 students from countries over 21 African countries. “The program has since become popular and has recently been declared as “An African Host Centre for Ph.D. Training ” under the PASET/RSIF initiative of the World Bank.”
She commended the World Bank for providing the funding for this Project and the continued supervision and advice it tenders to ensure that the Project achieves its intended objectives.
She said that her ministry has finalised a Concept for the Impact Phase as a successor to the current Project and is looking forward to working with other willing Governments in the region to take this forward because the need is still great.
Prof. Gaspard Banyankimbona, the Executive Secretary of the Inter-University Council for East Africa noted that “the centers of excellence and the incubation hubs are looked at as the model that can help African higher education to create an impact by contributing not only to SDGs but most importantly to the African Agenda 2063 stating explicitly of the Africa we want which is the Africa whose young people are employable, the Africa that is free from hunger and malnutrition, the Africa whose people are competitive in the global arena for science and technology, and the Africa whose people are respective to their natural environment.”
“This meeting is also expected to discuss all those issues and guide the RSC to take informed decisions on the way forward,” he added.
Prof. Banyankimbona also commended IUCEA and World Bank teams for organizing the meeting and for all the efforts that went into it.
He also reiterated their commitment to support the successful implementation of the project.
Other contributions made by ACEs: –
- COVIDEX was invented at PHARMBIOTRAC at Mbarara University of Science and Technology.
- Two varieties of cowpea are due for commercial licensing.
- Established a gene-bank with over 7,000 local, regional, and international accessions of cowpea and sorghum.
- MAPRONANO engaged with industry for student placements in Northern Uganda, a strategy for promoting University-private partnerships. A total of 35 industries were engaged and students benefitted from placements.
- ACEs have established partnerships with international and regional universities to improve research and teaching i.e.: –
– University of Pretoria
– Ethiopia Biotechnology Institute.
– Revital Healthcare company.
– University of Dares Salaam (UDSM, Tanzania).
– University of Nairobi, (Kenya).
– University of Rwanda (UOR).
– University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC, USA).
– Mekelle University (Ethiopia).
– Jimma University (Ethiopia).
– University of Petroleum & Energy studies (UPES, India).
– University of Kwazulu Natal (UKZN, South Africa).
– Vaal University (South Africa).
- The Center has also established a partnership with Presidential Scientific Initiatives on Epidemics (PRESIDE) for development of COVID19 Vaccine Adjuvants (Carrier Molecules), COVID 19 Saliva Diagnostic kits and bio medical plastics which is a recently concluded partnership to manufacture medical plastics.
- PhD student exchange: One of MAPRONANO’s PhD students carried out his research work at the University of Illinois at Chicago Nanotechnology facilities.
