2. LINKAGES WITH THE SECTOR
Project Development Objective: to promote regional specialization
among participating universities in areas that address regional
challenges and strengthen the capacities of these universities to
deliver quality training and applied research.
The centers were selected based on their ability to implement a
proposal that encompasses an element around the building and use of
industry/sector partnerships to enhance impact of the Center on
development and increase relevance of the centers education and
research.
Linkages with industry/sector includes (i) the curricula boards that
include industry professionals; (ii) innovation/incubator hubs at the
university; (iii) direct partnership with industry for applied research and
trainings; etc.
The ACE Project includes three indicators used to measure university-
industry linkages: (1) internships; (2) revenue generation; and (3)
3. BENEFITS OF LINKING TO
THE SECTOR
Linkages with the sector can:
Provide alternative access to funding channels
Increase the impact and the relevance of university/center research,
thereby contributing to the role of universities as problem-solvers
Help develop better curricula and training in technology-oriented
programs and enhance employment prospects for students that are
integrated within the industry
Help universities/centers acquire cutting-edge equipment that they
would not otherwise acquire
Provide research and technical know-how to the industry
The innovation and the research environment generated by the
collaboration of both parties can bring about technical advance.
4. KEY RESULTS
5,689
Internships undertaken by faculty
and students in the region and
internationally
12%
Share of regional students and
faculty undertaking internships
under ACE
15,958
Students and faculty trained
in short-term courses
1 student/faculty out
of 3
Trained in short-term courses was
from outside the host country
$52,423,100
Revenue generated externally
65%
of internships conducted* took place
in the private sector
* the figure is computed from an analysis of results
reported per center in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
5. KEY RESULTS: INTERNSHIPS
In Agriculture,
• 9 internships out of 10 were undertaken in a private institution
• Internships took place in private farms, ministries, and weather
forecast centers.
• Examples include Agudu Farms, the legacy improvement crop
center, Sodexam, la Société de Développement des Forêts, etc.
In Health centers,
• Almost half of all internships were conducted in a private
institution.
• Most internships took place in private and public hospital, medical
centers, pharmaceutical companies, veterinary centers and
Ministries.
6. KEY RESULTS: INTERNSHIPS
In STEM centers:
• Two thirds of internships took place in a private institution,
• Such as telecommunication firms, engineering and transport firms,
statistics labs, banks, agribusiness industries and Ministries.
• Examples include SENELEC, Atos, Bolloré, Benin Telecom Services, BCEAO,
le Ministère de la Femme et de l’Enfant de Côte d’Ivoire, Shell, le Ministère
des Ressources Animales et Halieutiques du Bénin, la Direction des Mines
et de la Géologie de Côte d’Ivoire, etc.
Top performing
centers
Winning strategies Challenges encountered
ACEPRD, KNUST,
CERSA, CEA-MEM,
2iE, OAU-OAK,
CEFTER, CEA-SMA
• Good planning and work to
build relationships with
industry leaders
• Stipends to support interns
• Learning curve to work outside
traditional mechanisms
• Non-eligibility of research centers
• Limited focused industries in
certain areas
• Inexistent channels to place
8. KEY RESULTS: REVENUE
GENERATION
Top
performing
centers
Winning strategies Challenges encountered
WACCI,
ACEGID, 2iE,
WACCBIP,
PAMI, CEFOR
• Leadership and excellent grantsmanship;
• Excellent management of donor funds;
• Strong policy support from the University;
• Mechanisms for short-term courses;
• “Money calls for money”
• Misunderstanding over what counts as
revenue generated – designated
account vs. university account
• Limited existing avenues to generate
revenue
$1,858,650 $1,946,260
$6,422,971
$0
$1,000,000
$2,000,000
$3,000,000
$4,000,000
$5,000,000
$6,000,000
$7,000,000
North America Europe Africa
Research grants;
Scholarships
Academic exchange
Programs;
Scholarships;
Research grants
Revenue from
private industry;
Research grants;
Scholarships;
Tuition fees
10. KEY RESULTS: SHORT-TERM
COURSES
Big Data Training for women in Benin
Testimony: “I find this course
very important and useful to
my research. (…) My
expectation is that I am going
to achieve my goal of having
in-depth knowledge in Big
Data and Data science which
will be very useful for me in
finishing up my research.”
Top
performing
centers
Winning strategies Challenges encountered
WACCI,
CETIC,
ACEPRD,
CEFTER
• Adapt and quickly change strategy;
• Strong communication strategy;
• Decentralized training/designation of
focal points; and
• Building networks (alumni and
regional relations)
• Governance issues around payment
of trainers;
• Regionality
11. KEY RESULTS: SHORT-TERM
COURSES
Top
performing
centers
Winning strategies Challenges encountered
WACCI,
CETIC,
ACEPRD,
CEFTER
• Adapt and quickly change strategy;
• Strong communication strategy;
• Decentralized training/designation of
focal points; and
• Building networks (alumni and
regional relations)
• Governance issues around payment
of trainers;
• Regionality
Poultry science training in Cotonou
Training of hundreds of
farmers from several countries
(Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali,
Senegal and Togo) to poultry
technique to produce quality
chicken meat, eggs in large
quantities. This contributes to
increasing animal protein
consumption in the framework
of food security.
13. LESSONS
Winning strategies Challenges encountered
Short-term
courses
• Adapt and quickly change strategy;
• Strong communication strategy;
• Decentralized training/designation
of focal points; and
• Building networks (alumni and
regional relations)
• Governance issues around payment
of trainers;
• Adopt the regionality requirements
Internships • Good planning and work to build
relationships with industry leaders
• Stipends to support interns
• Non-eligibility of research centers
as institutions
• Paucity of focused industries in
certain areas
• Inexistent channels to place
students in internships in past
curricula
Revenue
generation
• Leadership and excellent
grantsmanship;
• Excellent management of donor
funds;
• Misunderstanding over what counts
as revenue generated – designated
account vs. university account
• No mechanisms in place for
Notes de l'éditeur
Context: mismatch between the education sector and the demands of the labor markets problematic because African universities are suffering from financial constraints
Increasing realization that there needs to be closer collaboration between the university and the industry – why UILs matter
Internships in research centers are not receivable – not because they are not valid, or important, but because
Universities are being criticized for being ivory towers that produce graduates with no relevance to the country’s development
Universities can be problem solvers: ex of Silicon Valey in the US, but also in China and Brazil
In the United States, for instance, research from universities has prompted the development of agriculture and agro-industries, and, today, innovation is largely driven by universities creating growth hubs such as the Silicon Valley in California and Boston’s Route 128. Emerging economies such as China and Brazil also have put in place strong linkages between universities and industries
There have been case studies of selected countries at different stages of their development and show that concerted efforts with effective policy regime and strong coordination between the industry and university can strengthen UILs which may lead to socio-economic development in an economy
DLI 2.1 – STC
16 out of the 22 centres have maxed out
Examples include a course in statistics for girls at ENSEA, training to female students and staff in malaria diagnosis at ACEGID
WACCI and CETIC have trained almost 20% of students/staff output in the project. No thematic distinction: of the top 3, one is agric, one is health, one is STEM.
DLI 2.4 – internships
Internships: 11 centers out of 22 have maxed out
Interestingly enough, with the exception of ACEPRD, the health ACEs rank amongst the lowest performers in terms of number of internships undertaken – not necessarily in DLI achievement rate – probably because they have more of a research focus
Internships across public and private institutions
DLI 2.7 – revenue generation
All but 5 have maxed out
Only one agric ranks amongst the top 10, but it’s the one that has collected over $8.5m (over 16% of all revenue generated), so hard to identify trends
For STC and revenue generation, the theme does not seem to affect the performance. Different for internships
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Top performing = $4m+
WACCI has raised over $8.5
Universities: ex of Cornell giving 75k worth of scholarships to 3 students at WACCI
Tuition fees:
-$1/2m k in MSc tuition fees
Research grants:
ACEGID: 500k in research grants from North America/USDF
Ex for regional:
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company
Over 1.5m from Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited – CEFOR
WACCI over 1m from the H3 Africa Genomics Fund
1m in tuition fees
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Agric:
Pharmaceutical company e.g. Bayer
Health:
Veterinary centers e.g. ACEPRD
All of SAMEF internships were in hospitals
Ex of Ministries: CERHI – youth and social development, health)
STEM:
Banks: BCEAO
2iE: water treatment companies, ministère des ressources animales et halieutiqe
Development of biotechnology and genomics within ACEGID and across Nigerian health facilities and research centers
Trainings for poultry professionals in Togo through CERSA
Genomics is a relatively new (yet very relevant) field in Nigeria. Imp of genomics captured by the Ebola outbreak, monkey pox and yellow fever
Trainings to poultry scientists show that the research can be passed on to professionals when there is a dynamic between the center and the industry. Professionals trained were from Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, Togo – transferability and the demand for this kind of skills in the region. Beyond profits, the production of quality meat and animal proteins is an important dimension of food security in the region.
STC
Adapt and quickly change: WACCI, CETIC
Focus on gender – double objective
Governance issues: payment of trainings from the designated account
Internships
- CEFTER conducted joint planning and implementation with industrial partners who assigned industry-based student mentors
