African Research Universities Alliance

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) is an alliance of 16 research universities in Africa. Founded in March 2015 in Dakar, Senegal, ARUA seeks to enhance research and graduate training among its member universities through various avenues, including the establishment up of Certres of Excellence (CoEs)[1] across member institutions. The UK Research and Innovation provided significant funding[2] to support the establishment of the ARUA CoEs.

ARUA's approach is hinged on the approach of working together.  ARUA, therefore, brings together peer African universities that are willing to collaborate by pooling their limited resources to generate a critical mass that can more effectively support their limited but growing numbers of researchers. ARUA's efforts are, therefore, centred on four main thrusts[3] - Collaborative research, Training and support for PhDs, Capacity building for research management, Research Advocacy.

History

The alliance was launched in Dakar, Senegal by fifteen (15) universities[4] in March 2015. These universities included the universities of Lagos, Ibadan and Obafemi Awolowo in Nigeria, the University of Ghana, Makerere University in Uganda, the University of Nairobi in Kenya, the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, the National University of Rwanda, Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Senegal, and in South Africa the universities of the Witwatersrand, Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Pretoria, KwaZulu-Natal and Rhodes. Five (5) of these universities had participated in the Higher Education Research and Advocacy Network in Africa (HERANA) project and thus found commonalities that formed the basis for forming the ARUA network.[5] Carnegie Corporation of New York were instrumental in the initiative.[6]

Governance

The governance of ARUA is led by a Board which comprises the Vice Chancellors of all the member universities. The functions of the Board and its authority are derived from the Alliance's constitution. The Board has a Chair and a Co-Chair who are elected every three years.  The Board is assisted in its work by the Executive Committee, which is a subset of the Board. The management of the Alliance is done through its Secretary-General.

The ARUA Board is currently chaired by Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe and Prof. Sizwe Mabizela.[7] The Secretariat is headed by Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, who has been Secretary-General since August 2016.[8]

Membership

ARUA's membership remains strictly by invitation from its Board. As of December 2022, the Alliance has 15 members universities and one (1) associate member. The membership is as follows:

Institution Country
Addis Ababa University  Ethiopia
University of Lagos  Nigeria
University of Ibadan  Nigeria
University of Ghana  Ghana
University of Dar es Salaam  Tanzania
University of Nairobi  Kenya
Université Cheikh Anta Diop  Senegal
Makerere University  Uganda
University of Rwanda  Rwanda
University of Witwatersrand  South Africa
University of Pretoria  South Africa
Stellenbosch University  South Africa
Rhodes University  South Africa
University of Cape Town  South Africa
University of KwaZulu-Natal  South Africa
University of Mauritius (Associate Member[9])  Mauritius

Partnerships and Collabortions

ARUA since its inception has fostered a growing number of partnerships and collaborations with funding institutions such as the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Research Foundation, the UK Research and Innovation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Kresge Foundation, Clarivate Analytics. The Alliance has signed MoUs with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU),[10] the University of Glasgow,[11] the The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities (The Guild) and the Universitas 21 (U21).[12]

References
  1. "Centres of Excellence".
  2. "16 African Universities Receive £20M UK Grant For Research". Business World Ghana. May 15, 2019.
  3. https://arua.org.za/wp-content/uploads/ARUA-Concept.pdf
  4. "African Research Universities Alliance launched". www.ru.ac.za. April 2, 2014.
  5. Cloete, Nico; Bunting, Ian; Van Schalkwyk, Francois (2018-11-06). Research Universities In Africa. doi:10.5281/zenodo.1479114. ISBN 978-1-928331-87-2. S2CID 188068007.
  6. York, Carnegie Corporation of New. "African Research Universities Alliance | African Academics". Carnegie Corporation of New York.
  7. "ARUA Board Elects New Chair and Co-Chair". January 21, 2021.
  8. "Professor Ernest Aryeetey Appointed First Secretary General Of African Research Universities Alliance | University of Ghana". www.ug.edu.gh. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  9. "University of Mauritius (Associate Member)". March 10, 2021.
  10. "Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU)". ARUA. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  11. arua (2020-02-28). "ARUA Signs Memorandum of Understanding with University of Glasgow". ARUA. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
  12. "U21 and ARUA sign Memorandum of Understanding | Universitas 21". universitas21.com. Retrieved 2023-03-28.
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