ACCRA, April 7, 2025 – About 500 participants, including more than 80 Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACEs), policy makers, higher education leaders, industry experts, and development partners have gathered in Accra, Ghana, from April 7 to 9, for a three-day celebration marking the tenth anniversary of the ACE program, a transformative journey in Africa’s higher education. This milestone recognizes a decade of strengthening Africa’s higher education, fostering regional integration, improving industry linkages and driving meaningful impact on Africa’s development. Participants will seize the opportunity to share success stories, discuss emerging challenges, and engage stakeholders in charting a future where Africa’s higher education sector continues to build on its current gains and scales its contributions to the continent’s economic growth and social development.
The celebration of this key milestone is marked by the presence of His Excellency John Mahama Dramani, the President of the Republic Ghana, who presided the opening ceremony.
“The ACE Program has emerged as a model of distinction, fostering innovation, nurturing world-class expertise, and strengthening institutional capacities in critical sectors,” said His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama. “The ACE journey is a reminder that the future of higher education in Africa –and indeed globally—does not lie in working alone. It lies in uniting our efforts to unlock talent, transfer knowledge, and build a resilient workforce to drive sustainable development across Africa”.
Over the past decade, the Program has trained the next generation of Africa’s highly-skilled workforce, upskilled the existing workforce and significantly transformed scientific research in higher education across Africa, establishing over 80 ACEs in more than 50 universities across 20 countries, and enrolling more than 90,000 students, including 7,650 PhDs and 30,200 master's degree students, with 32% women. The program has raised teaching and learning standards through equipping modern facilities with cutting-edge technologies; and has met global benchmarks in academic excellence with over 130 internationally accredited programs and more than 600 nationally accredited programs. Additionally, the ACEs have developed solutions and innovations, with more than 10,350 internationally peer-reviewed publications tailored to Africa’s and global challenges. The ACEs are distinguished by their regional specialization, taking advantage of economies of scale, fostering cross-border collaborations among universities, and bringing students from various countries together to undertake research in specific regional issues, including in agriculture, ICT, energy, engineering, environment, health, mining, transport and logistics, urban development, water, etc.
Speaking about the future of the Program, President Mahama declared: “The prospects for the ACE Program are bright. The demand for research-led solutions, skilled professionals, and regionally relevant innovations continues to grow across the continent. By aligning academic work with national and regional development goals, and by fostering innovation-driven partnerships, we can properly position the centers to remain vibrant and impactful well into the future”.
“The global development challenges we face today, with the confluence of interconnected crises ranging from environmental challenges, health pandemics, to economic instability and geopolitical tensions, call for strategic investment and innovative solutions, with human capital development at the forefront,” said Ousmane Diagana, World Bank’s Vice-president for Western and Central Africa. “The ACE Program has laid the foundation for a knowledge-driven economy, and we must double our efforts to continue the transformation they have started. Let us continue to empower Africa’s brightest minds to learn, lead, innovate, and drive our continent’s transformation from within.”
The ACE Program is a flagship regional program launched in 2014. It is the first large-scale World Bank-funded regional project in the higher education sector in Africa, with a total financing of $657 million. The program also benefitted from a $72 million co-financing from the French Development Agency, AFD. Its regional coordination and knowledge-sharing activities are implemented by valued partners, including the Association of African Universities (AAU) and the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA).
“The ACE program has significantly transformed higher education across Africa, equipping institutions with the resources, capacity, and networks needed to drive world-class research and innovation,” said Professor Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General of the AAU. “It has proven to be a model for regional collaboration, fostering knowledge exchange and research excellence across borders. As we celebrate ten years of impact, we reaffirm our commitment to strengthening Africa’s higher education ecosystem and, we are also presented with an opportunity to invest in Africa’s higher education to sustain and expand the ACE accomplishments.”
For Professor Gaspard Banyankimbona, Executive Secretary of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA): “The program has been a catalyst for transformative change in East and Southern Africa, driving innovation, fostering university-industry collaborations, and empowering future leaders (especially women) through scholarships, incubation centers, research and innovation, and capacity building. Its impact on higher education, regional integration, and development underscores the importance of strategic partnerships in shaping Africa's sustainable future which lies in its capacity to innovate, educate, and collaborate. The African Higher Education Centers of Excellence have been and will continue to be central to this vision."
The three-day event is co-organized by the government of Ghana, the Association of African Universities, and the Inter-University Council for East Africa, in collaboration with the World Bank.
