INCLUDES LANDMARK EFFORT TO EXPAND INTERNET BANDWIDTH AT UNIVERSITIES
For further information contact:
George Soule, The Rockefeller Foundation, (212) 852-8456
Susan King, Carnegie Corporation of New York, (212) 207-6273
Thea Lurie, Ford Foundation, (212) 573-5128
Ray Boyer, MacArthur Foundation, (312) 920-6243
Characterizing African universities as necessary contributors to the continent's future development, governance and peace, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan joined the presidents of six of the largest U.S. foundations in announcing a $200 million commitment by the foundations over the next five years to further strengthen higher education in seven African nations.
The investment by the foundations includes more than $5 million that will enable a consortium of African universities to obtain eight times the amount of Internet bandwidth available to them as recently as two years ago. The cost will be less than one-third the rate paid by most African institutions. The consortium has entered into an agreement with Intelsat, a global satellite operator, to provide the bandwidth.
The announcement represents a significant renewal of support for African universities from the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, which was originally launched in 2000 by Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Ford, MacArthur and Rockefeller Foundations. Over the past five years, the foundations contributed more than $150 million to build core capacity and support special initiatives at universities in six nations: Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Kenya has joined as the seventh nation this year. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation have now joined the partnership as contributors.
"This is an outstanding display of global citizenship," said Annan. "We need to train teachers and build up research capacity; we need to strengthen open universities and distance learning programmes; and we need to ensure that African institutions have access to the latest technologies."
"Our partnership began five years ago with the recognition that a quiet revolution was taking place in Africa making universities once again a source of innovation, training and scholarship," said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. "This effort expands our commitment to the renaissance of African higher education and to its importance in Africa's future development."
Significant Progress in Five Years
The partner foundations and other development institutions have witnessed considerable progress within universities participating in the partnership, in ways that bear directly on development and economic progress in their respective nations.
"African universities that combine excellent, world-class education with programs of practical training are vital to progress, and it is heartening to see them emerge," said Jonathan Fanton, president of the MacArthur Foundation. "Technology is an essential bridge to that progress and development."
The bandwidth initiative supported by the Foundations will initially allow several universities to share 93,000 kilobits per second of Internet bandwidth each month, paying an average cost of $2.33 per kbps per month. Most African universities currently pay an average of $7.30 per kbps per month. As recently as two years ago, the total bandwidth available to them was only 12,000 kbps.
Several other examples highlight the progress of African universities in recent years:
- In Nigeria, the University of Ibadan has moved from having only 25 dial-up links to the Internet five years ago to a campus-wide system of 1000 networked computers using wired and wireless technologies. Sixty percent of all university operations will be online by 2007, up from zero in 2001.
- At South Africa's University of KwaZulu-Natal, the African Center for Crop Improvement has established a five-year Ph.D. program that trains plant breeders to develop new varieties of crops in hopes of bolstering the continent's homegrown food supply.
- To advance the field of higher education in Africa, partnership support led to the founding of the Journal of Higher Education in Africa providing a forum for debate, critique, and analysis of issues facing African higher education.
- To catapult more women into leadership roles, over $10 million in academic scholarships have been awarded to almost 1000 students attending universities in four African countries: Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
- In Uganda, Makerere University has worked with the government to implement hands-on programs to increase the quantity and quality of trained public servants, including a novel master's program in public health aimed at supplying the country's districts with new health systems managers.
Commenting on the progress underway at many African universities, Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation said, "Knowledge, innovation and talent are critical currencies needed to thrive in today's interconnected world, and Africa's universities are increasingly looked upon to generate the ideas and talent necessary to address Africa's challenges, on Africa's terms."
"The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa represents our commitment to Africa's next generation of leaders, who deserve an exemplary education to prepare them to help set the course for their nations' futures," said Vartan Gregorian, president of Carnegie Corporation. "We expect the universities in which we invest to become the foundation of a higher education network that will serve all of Africa for decades to come."
The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa is a joint effort of Carnegie Corporation of New York, and the Ford, MacArthur, Rockefeller, William and Flora Hewlett and the Andrew W. Mellon foundations to build the capacity of African universities and the field of higher education in seven African countries: Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Each of the four founding partners (Carnegie, Ford, Rockefeller and MacArthur) had significant grantmaking programs in Africa prior to forming the partnership. Working together has broadened their effort and impact.
