Nelson Mandela institute to boost science and research

Five years ago, former Mozambican president Joachim Chissano paid a visit to Arusha in Tanzania. It was a step towards establishing an important postgraduate training and research institution – the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology, which was officially opened this month.

Chissano was in Arusha to chair a board meeting of the Nelson Mandela Institution, a body initiated by anti-apartheid icon and former South African president Nelson Mandela to promote science, technology and innovation in Africa.

It later emerged that Chissano was also in Arusha to convince African countries to invest in science and technology because, according to him, the continent is seriously short of the knowledge and expertise needed to spur economic development.

The Nelson Mandela Institution, he explained at a briefing, planned to establish science training institutions across the continent, and the one to serve East Africa would be located in Arusha, taking advantage of the strategic position of the northern Tanzanian city.

Soon Chissano and his delegation of prominent scientists from within and outside the country headed off to Tengeru and Karangai, about 15 kilometres east of Arusha. The two villages had been earmarked for the present campus of the Nelson Mandela Institute, with a much larger campus to be developed in the coming years.

The process of establishing the institute was not easy. It involved consultations between the Tanzania government and regional bodies such as the African Union as well as academic institutions and development partners, among others.

Locally, the consultations were also challenging and had to involve several government ministries, given the need to transfer ownership of the earmarked land and buildings of the Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation and Rural Technology to the new institution.

Project development

The project took off in earnest in 2009, when the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) was established. This saw the commencement of construction work that included upgrading the old buildings at the site at a cost of US$60 million.

"NM-AIST is being established as an autonomous regional research-intensive institution that caters for the East Africa region,” said Professor Burton Mwamwila, the vice-chancellor, in an interview.

Although established in 2009, NM-AIST operations effectively commenced in October last year when the first cohort of 83 students were enrolled. Only postgraduate students are admitted into masters and PhD programmes. While the priority is to admit students from East Africa, the institution does accept students from other parts of the continent.

The official launch of the institute by Tanzanian President Dr Jakaya M Kikwete took place on 2 November 2012. In his speech, the president stressed the importance of investing in science and technology to enable the nation to achieve its development goals.

Regional academic hub

The launch of NM-AIST, also known simply as Nelson Mandela University, will boost the desire by some stakeholders to transform Arusha into a regional centre for science, research and technology. It will also polish the image of Arusha as the diplomatic centre of the region – it is the headquarters of the East African Community – and the hub of Tanzania’s tourism industry, located as it is near Mt Kilimanjaro and world-famous game reserves.

The fast-growing city is a popular destination for investors and is transforming into an academic centre for East Africa.

Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology established its first foreign campus in Arusha last year and Aga Khan University (AKU) will develop an academic complex in the next 15 years at a cost of US$450 million.

This campus is set to be the biggest in the region and a large plot of land has been secured on the western fringes of the city that will house major education and health projects undertaken by the Aga Khan Development Network.

There are other three universities based in the area, all church-owned. They are Meru University, Arusha University and Makumira University.

But the Nelson Mandela Institute is different. It is the first public university and, unlike other universities in Tanzania, it does not offer undergraduate studies. NM-AIST is geared towards high-level training in science, technology and engineering.

“We intend to make this a world-class environment for the generation and application of knowledge through innovation, research and technology development for wealth creation and sustainable development,” Mwamila told University World News.

The second cohort of 135 students arrived recently, taking the student population to 218: 142 on masters programmes and 76 undertaking PhDs. The institute so far has 45 academic staff, including 12 women.

Projections are for the institute to enrol 3,350 students in the next 10 years, with 1,550 on masters and 1,800 on PhD programmes.

NM-AIST is currently situated on eight hectares of land 15 kilometres east of Arusha, but the main campus will be developed over the next six years on 1.3 hectares of land further south in Karangai. There are also plans for a technology park.

Professor Paul Gwakisa, head of life sciences and bio-engineering, said the venture would succeed if African countries and companies felt the need to use academic experts to help use the region’s abundant natural resources to meet the daily needs of the people.

“We aim to transform research into markets with joint ventures between science and business. Technology can be produced through innovation which, in turn, can enhance production of value-added goods for the markets,” he said.

The presence of a host of scientific and technological institutions will also support the success of NM-AIST by providing a critical mass of expertise and research.

Among these are the Tropical Pesticides Research Institute, a former institution of the East African Community; the Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation and Rural Technology; the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute; the Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission; Arusha Technical College; and numerous other institutions.