Africa Top Stories
AFRICA-EUROPE
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Dozens of leading academic institutions part of the appeal
Wachira Kigotho
Universities and research organisations across Africa and Europe have called for a new science, technology and innovation framework for cooperation between the two continents to drive sustainable development. They say it should be grounded in academic excellence, sustainability, capacity building and scalability.
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UNITED KINGDOM-NIGERIA
Olabisi Deji-Folutile
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GLOBAL-AFRICA
UWN reporter
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AFRICA
Maina Waruru
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Africa News
AFRICA
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Desmond Thompson
Private higher education institutions have a vital role to play in the development of Africa but, in order to be sustainable, they need to be successful, innovative and impactful. This was a core message conveyed at the third annual academic summit of the Honoris United Universities network in Cape Town, South Africa.
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ESWATINI
Zachariah Mushawatu
Higher education institutions and students in Eswatini are expected to feel the impact of a plan by the Eswatini Electricity Company to implement winter load-shedding due to an inadequate power supply. Blackouts affect students’ use of electronic devices for studying and threaten campus security, with sexual assault and theft reported during power cuts.
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NIGERIA
Abdulwaheed Sofiullahi
Universities and polytechnics in Nigeria produce about 600,000 graduates annually. These graduates continually seek worldwide exposure through admission to foreign institutions due to the country’s declining educational standards and employers’ growing preference for degrees earned abroad, but getting a transcript is a mission.
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DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
Augustin Sadiki
Barely a week after lecturers and academic staff at the l’Institut Facultaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Yangambi in Kisangani in the Democratic Republic of Congo decided to halt teaching courses due to their alleged rampant mistreatment by the university, there appears to be little hope that academic activities will resume soon.
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SOUTH AFRICA
Alicia James
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SDGs
KENYA
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Wilson Odhiambo
The Rift Valley Institute of Science and Technology in Kenya has been integrating the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals into its daily activities to encourage sustainable agriculture, the use of renewable energy and climate change mitigation. Its efforts have been recognised globally.
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TANZANIA
Scovian Lillian
The Clean Shores Great Lakes project is a timely and necessary intervention to tackle growing concerns about marine plastic pollution and the devastating impact it has on fish and marine organisms in Tanzania. The academic who is leading the project explains what is being done.
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CENTRAL AFRICA
Elias Ngalame
A serious shortage of skilled nutrition professionals exists in Africa, in general, and the Central African region, in particular – thus, governments and higher education authorities should drive policies that will strengthen human resource development in this field. This is necessary to combat malnutrition and hunger.
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Research
SOUTH AFRICA
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Munyaradzi Makoni
The South African higher education sector is highly unlikely to achieve its target of 75% of scholars across all 26 public universities having a PhD by 2030 at the current rates of growth, say scientometric researchers. However, some fields have surpassed the target.
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Africa Features
AFRICA
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Kudzai Mashininga
Artificial intelligence and chatbots like ChatGPT have taken the world by storm. In the higher education environment, many students find them useful to do research and write essays, but they also warn that awareness of proper use is crucial to combat cheating.
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Top Africa Stories from Last Week
AFRICA
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Wachira Kigotho
African countries have been urged to develop new universities that are entrepreneurial from the outset to counter challenges posed by unemployment, hunger and the vulnerabilities of health risks and climate change as well as competition for scarce natural resources, according to the Economic Commission for Africa.
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SUDAN
Wagdy Sawahel
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NIGERIA
Afeez Bolaji
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EUROPE-AFRICA
Maina Waruru
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Global Commentary
GLOBAL
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Cheryl Yu
Two centuries ago, John Newman argued that a university is there to provide ‘valuable’, rather than ‘useful’, knowledge. University discourse has evolved since then, but ‘valuable’ can be interpreted in contemporary terms as ‘responsible’ and that is what we seek: a responsible international university.
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GLOBAL
Jasvir Kaur Nachatar Singh
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LATIN AMERICA
Montse Gomendio
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GLOBAL
Lyndsay McLean
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Global Features
EUROPE
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Nic Mitchell
Publicly funded research outputs should be immediately and openly available to all without barriers such as subscription fees or paywalls, say European scientific community leaders who welcomed a recent 20-point plan agreed by the Council of the European Union to encourage open science.
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CHINA
Yojana Sharma
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MYANMAR
Padone
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UNITED KINGDOM
Nic Mitchell
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UNITED STATES-GLOBAL
Sharon Dell
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CHILE
Maria Elena Hurtado
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Sponsored Article
University of Victoria staff
Accelerating Community Energy Transformation is a University of Victoria-led collaborative initiative that brings together over 40 partners, including Indigenous knowledge keepers and community leaders, to create innovative place-based solutions for energy system transformation.
Promoted by the University of Victoria.
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Sponsored Article
Stellenbosch University staff
Africa needs to stop paying the price for the rest of the world’s recalcitrance to act fast enough in response to the irrefutable conclusions that climate change is real and that the impact of global warming could be devasting, says Professor Guy Midgley, interim director of the School for Climate Studies at Stellenbosch University, South Africa.
Promoted by Stellenbosch University.
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Sponsored Article
UAE University staff
Researchers from the United Arab Emirates University have shown that the potential benefits of building energy savings and a cooler indoor environment, as well as improved cooling effect on air temperature at pedestrian level, strongly indicate that a cool roof with high solar reflectance and albedo is a promising strategy for buildings in regions with hot, arid climates.
Promoted by United Arab Emirates University.
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Sponsored Article
Aftab Dean
A new university ranking system aims to serve as a catalyst for positive transformation in higher education, ensuring that universities create an environment grounded in integrity and sustainability that inspires and supports students and staff in the development of novel solutions to global challenges.
Promoted by Globethics.net.
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Sponsored Article
University of Pretoria staff
In the publication of its first progress report on its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, the University of Pretoria is navigating new territory at the same time as it is acknowledging its clear stewardship role in protecting the environment and biodiversity.
Promoted by the University of Pretoria.
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