US to boost links with African universities

Makere University, in Kampala, Uganda, seeks to establish centres of excellence

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The US government's international development agency (USAID) has announced 11 new partnerships with 22 universities across Africa to help alleviate poverty and stimulate economies.

Each partnership will receive up to US$1.1 million in funding to assist national and regional development through investment in higher education. Partnerships will link up universities from African countries with those in the United States and will have clear five-year strategic plans and ten-year visions.

"These partnerships will combine the knowledge and resources of African and US universities to solve some of the critical issues hindering economic development in African countries," said Peter McPherson, president of the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.

The partnerships include a range of research programmes across the continent, including HIV/AIDS research, pandemic and vector-borne disease research, water resources engineering, agricultural sustainability, and solar power energy research. African countries involved with the new partnerships are: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda.

Link to full article in University World News