DAAD Proposes New Education Campaign for Africa

Academic exchange promotes stable development

Bonn, 25 June 2014. Sub-Saharan Africa is in a critical phase. Positive economic data indicate that an upswing is underway, yet it is threatened by a dire need for education. Schools and universities are simply unable to meet the demands of a growing population. There is significant danger that economic and political opportunities will go unused. In its new strategy for Africa, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) regards top-performing universities as essential for a functioning educational system and sustainable development.

“Without excellent universities, sustainable economic and social development is not possible, and that especially applies to Sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently, conditions have to be created so that countries in this region can train qualified professionals – in particular, teachers, which are urgently needed in their schools,” says DAAD President Prof. Margret Wintermantel. The DAAD strategy to initiate academic cooperation with the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa is the result of intensive dialogue, in which German and African universities, DAAD alumni, higher education associations and international political organisations in Africa were involved. The DAAD education campaign for the region was conceived as a partnership-based programme from the very start.

The DAAD shall concentrate on the following five strategic fields of activity in Sub-Saharan Africa until 2020:

In order to achieve these goals, the DAAD will make use of established programmes and develop new models. German, African and international funding organisations will provide the necessary financing for implementing the strategy.

Background

Thanks to its strong presence in Africa, the DAAD has become a central contact partner and intermediary for German-African academic exchange. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the DAAD currently operates a branch office in Nairobi and four Information Centres in Accra, Addis Ababa, Johannesburg and Yaoundé. The Nairobi branch celebrated its 40th anniversary last May.

• Train students to become university lecturers in Africa with scholarships to German institutions of higher education and top-performing universities in neighbouring African countries
• Support African universities in expanding their graduate training and research capacities
• Strengthen universities in the region as effective drivers of social development – e.g. funding applied research and degree programmes which are relevant to the labour market, knowledge transfer in the economic sector and graduate entrepreneurial commitment
• Enable German universities to gain easier access to the African continent and present information about Germany in Africa
• Strengthen synergistic and collaborative projects, creating a close alliance between German and African partners, especially with regional university organisations in Africa