The African Union Commission is working jointly with UNESCO to expedite the ratification and implementation of the Addis Convention on the recognition of academic qualifications in higher education in African states, as part of the much-awaited Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Framework.

The Inyathelo Ninth Leadership Retreat was held in South Africa recently with the theme “The Best of Times, the Worst of Times – Positioning institutional advancement in times of challenge and change”. Vice-chancellors and senior advancement officers discussed how universities might engage stakeholders in transformation, and tap deeper into growing philanthropic support to help higher education meet development goals.

The University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa hosted the 11th Annual Higher Education Conference from 27-29 September in Durban under the theme “Crises, Contestations, Contemplations and Futures”, expanding its focus this year to include discussions on matters such as governance and leadership in higher education, and possible funding models.

African scholarly publishers based in South Africa, Senegal, Cameroon and Uganda, as well as the global book distributor African Books Collective, met in Johannesburg, South Africa, recently to discuss the challenges they face and opportunities to strengthen monograph publishing through collaboration. This Special Report kicks off a new African Scholarly Publishing section that will run regular articles on developments in the academic book and journal publishing sector on the continent.

The Alliance for African Partnership is a new initiative of Michigan State University or MSU, which aims to support sustainable, effective and equitable long-term partnerships among African organisations, MSU and other international organisations. The launch took place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from 18-20 July, featured prominent African leaders from higher education, research institutes and other sectors, and focused on the theme of “Putting vision into action together”.

The “Contribution of Business Schools and Higher Education to Inclusive Development” conference took place in South Africa at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study from 19-20 April, co-hosted by South Africa’s University of Stellenbosch Business School, England’s University of Bath School of Management and the European Foundation for Management Development. The conference examined how business schools and universities could help to contribute to inclusive development in society and in their own institutions.

The 10th Annual Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Conference was held at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, from 20-22 September under the theme "The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning: Advancing teaching innovation and research excellence in higher education".

More than 500 delegates attended the 14th General Assembly of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, or CODESRIA, held in the Senegalese capital Dakar from 8-12 June under the theme “Creating African Futures in an Era of Global Transformations: Challenges and prospects”.

Un nouvel ouvrage, Knowledge Production and Contradictory Functions in African Higher Education, sera présenté au public à l’occasion du Sommet sur l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique, qui se tiendra du 10 au 12 mars à Dakar, capitale du Sénégal. Ce livre est la toute dernière publication du projet HERANA (Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa, réseau de recherche et de promotion de l’enseignement supérieur en Afrique), qui depuis sept ans mène des recherches sur l’enseignement supérieur dans huit pays africains. Ce rapport spécial met en lumière les principaux points observés lors des travaux de recherche menés par le centre pour la transformation de l’enseignement supérieur (CHET), avec le soutien financier de la fondation Carnegie Corporation of New York. University World News est un partenaire médias du projet HERANA et du sommet de Dakar. Les articles qui suivent ont été préparés pour notre lectorat francophone.