ACE Impact 2020 regional workshop begins Monday

The fourth biannual regional workshop of the Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) will take place from October 19 to 27, 2020.

The workshop will be conducted virtually “due to restrictions on mobility imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to ensure the safety of all participants”.

ACE Impact, in a statement on Saturday, noted that the official opening of the workshop will hold on October 20, and will be presided over by Meskerem Mulatu, World Bank education practice manager, West Africa.

According to the statement, the project is a postgraduate course which seeks to drive innovation within the African region.

“The meeting will bring together the 53 Centres of Excellence and key stakeholders including government representatives from participating countries, Vice Chancellors, players of the higher education sector, the private sector, policy think tanks, and partners including the World Bank, the French Development Agency and the Association of African Universities,” it read.

“The overarching objective of the ACE Impact October 2020 Virtual Workshop is to provide participating Centers, their host institutions, and governments with the tools and information necessary to implement the project and help achieve its objectives despite the current global
pandemic, which has had a significant impact on all aspects of higher education.

“The ACE impact project broadly targets strengthening post-graduate training and applied research in existing fields
and supporting new fields that are essential for Africa’s economic growth.

“Additional planned workshop activities include implementation support and peer learning sessions for all the participating Centers across the various thematic areas of the project -Agriculture, Health and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

“The virtual workshop will also feature operational clinics on Monitoring & Evaluation, Procurement and Financial Management.

“These sessions are aimed at equipping the participating ACEs and their host institutions with the needed tools to help them improve their project effectiveness and Implementation.

“Additionally, there will be a Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting which is scheduled to take place on the 19th of October 2020. The PSC comprises representatives of all participating
countries, regional bodies, and industry. They serve as the policy making body of the project.”