Germany and Kenya sign declaration of intent to establish an Eastern African-German University of Applied Sciences

DAAD President Prof. Margret Wintermantel welcomes the establishment of a binational university of applied sciences in Kenya

Nairobi/Bonn, 9 Feb. 2017. At a meeting held during the German-African Business Summit in Nairobi, the German Ambassador in Nairobi, Jutta Frasch, and the Kenyan Minister of Education Dr. Fred Matiang’i signed a joint declaration of intent to establish an “Eastern African-German University of Applied Sciences” based on the practice-oriented German university model. The long-term cooperative project will be implemented in Kenya and offer degree programmes that correspond to the academic needs of the country and region.

“Productive academic exchange has existed between Germany and Kenya for many years. The country’s academic and higher education sector are experiencing rapid growth, the economy and diverse industrial branches are booming, there’s a vibrant entrepreneurial scene of medium-sized companies,” explained DAAD President Prof. Margret Wintermantel. “I am delighted that, with this new project, we can further intensify our cooperation with Kenya and the region of Eastern Africa.”

Germany’s contribution to building the planned university will be financed by the DAAD with funding from the German Federal Foreign Office. The courses will be designed to address the professional training needs in Eastern Africa and the current academic, economic and developmental requirements of the region’s universities. The academic concept will be practice-oriented and rely on close cooperation between the universities and the business sector. The university should serve as a model for the entire region and encourage other Eastern African nations to re-orientate their university systems. By means of a competitive tendering process, German universities of applied sciences will be selected to join a consortium which will assume academic responsibility for the German side.

“It is of great importance to the DAAD to help build and implement this innovative and application-oriented university model which is so essential to the employability of young university graduates. With our expertise in the field of transnational education projects, we stand for quality, sustainability and strong partnership-based collaborations worldwide, and we look forward to establishing and advancing this ambitious project together with our Kenyan partners,” stated DAAD President Prof. Wintermantel.

Background

There is enormous demand around the world for German higher education programmes and especially projects that establish application-oriented, practice-based universities. For over fifteen years, the DAAD has been supporting such transnational university-building projects and German courses abroad. Internationalisation is a trend that unites many interests. It brings students and universities at home and abroad closer together and strengthens international relations between countries around the world. Needs-oriented, innovative and practice-related academic programmes are particularly important for the target countries. They significantly contribute to optimally preparing university graduates for their respective labour markets, thereby increasing employment in their countries. High-quality academic qualification goes hand-in-hand with concrete practical application and international know-how. Transnational education projects can also be an important driver for necessary changes in the university landscape and therefore have great potential of becoming exemplary models of international academic cooperation.