Strengthening partnerships to achieve and sustain excellence: The 2024 Centres of African Excellence Networking Conference in Cape Town brought together over 60 project representatives from Germany and Africa. The event provided a dynamic forum to explore strategies for equitable scientific cooperation and achieving long-term sustainable impact. 

Objectives

The 2024 Networking Conference served as a platform to reflect on how the Centres of African Excellence have built partnerships grounded in mutual respect, transparency, and trust. Participants discussed the everyday challenges faced by these collaborations and jointly identified strategies, success factors, and concrete actions to further strengthen equitable and sustainable partnerships.

Programme Broschure

The detailed programme of the Networking Conference, held from 25 to 28 November 2024 in Cape Town, is available here. 

Conference Report

A comprehensive report summarising the outcomes of the Networking Conference is available for download here. The report also includes concise fact sheets on the 15 projects funded since 2009 under the Centres of African Excellence programme.

Equitable scientific cooperation – Recommendations of the German Commission for UNESCO

The German Commission for UNESCO recently presented a position paper on “Equitable scientific cooperation worldwide”, to which the DAAD has contributed. The paper served as a stimulus for discussion during the joint exchange at the Networking Conference. It  provides valuable insights into how to foster equal partnerships and outlines recommendations at various levels, ranging from the (re)shaping of science policy frameworks and research funding to the organisation of the practical scientific process. 

The position paper promotes scientific cooperation “that is designed and implemented in principle and in every relevant implementation project in such a way that science in the partner countries is structurally strengthened and all existing knowledge resources are developed, made available, mobilised and used in the best possible way." It emphasises the "clear need for equitable international scientific cooperation.”

 

The Centres of African Excellence Programme

The Centres of African Excellence programme aims to establish high-impact and sustainable university centres at African higher education institutions that address critical academic disciplines and meet local and regional needs. The programme is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with support from the German Federal Foreign Office.

Find more information on the programme here.

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