He reckons partnerships and collaborations as the strategy for African universities to forge synergistic frontiers.

Joint efforts between various African universities and their partners in academia locally and abroad, governments, domestic and international private sector players will go a long way in boosting the uptake of science and technology in institutions of higher learning in the region.

Mount Kenya University, Vice-Chancellor, Prof says that globally, partnerships for development are a key strategy in all realms of human lives.  He spoke at the 8th International Interdisciplinary and Inter-Universities Consortium –Africa Conference held at MKU’s Mwai Kibaki Convention Centre in Thika town last week.

The three-day event saw delegates engage on diverse multidisciplinary issues ranging from the need to focus on Science Technology and Innovation (STI) as the driving discussion for attaining Vision 2030 and Africa Union Agenda 2063 objectives.  The conference brought together stakeholders from academia, public and private sectors to discuss strategies to entrench problem-based research and innovation for socio economic development.

MKU and Vincent Pol University, Poland organised the conference which ended on Friday March 31.   Other collaborators were Kyambogo University of Uganda, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (Nigeria), University of Makeni (Sierra Leone) and Kenya’s University of Eldoret.  All five African universities are members of the Inter-University Consortium Africa which is dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in knowledge and technological innovation.

Closing the meeting, Prof Jaganyi said the consortium as an entity has achieved a lot in the last 10 years since its inception. A notable achievement is  the African Journal for Education, Science and Technology which is a multi-disciplinary journal. He challenged the editorial board to ensure the journal is indexed so that students and faculty can have a globally recognised journal that hosts the consortium publications. He further reiterated the importance of collaborative staff exchanges, the warm, cordial relationships among the consortium members as success stories worth a mention,” he said.

Thanking the conference organizing committee chaired by Dr Henry Yatich for a job well done, Prof Jaganyi said there could certainly be room for improvement in planning the meeting, considering the central role played by technology in current international conferences. Dr. Yatich who is the Acting Principal, College of Graduate Studies and Research at MKU, underscored the need for innovative led research with communities and lauded MKU research division for spearheading the development of an innovative herbal soap with community members from Muranga, in Kiambu County. He observed that the formula for the soap is currently awaiting submission to KEBS, as part of the process in planning for its commercialisation as an income generation innovation for the university research unit..

The conference was held under the theme, Participatory Leadership, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer for Sustainable Economies.

The VC thanked the CEO of the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), Prof Walter O. Oyawa who was chief guest and ProfGeorgeNjoroge (USA) and Prof Dickson Andala (NRF) who was represented by Dr. Gichini Gatama for their informative keynote presentations. “A mention about this conference will never be complete without a word of appreciation to Vincent Pol University for their participation in organising the conference and financial and professional support,” he added.

Prof Oyawa had earlier told the delegates that collaboration among higher education institutions in Africa and beyond was considered a key strategy to promoting cross national and continental boundaries, so that resources can be pooled to support similar conference and collaborative research initiatives. “There is a need for a framework to evaluate knowledge transfer practices, improve knowledge transfer metrics and evaluation frameworks, and offer policy lessons,” said NACOSTI, CEO.

According to Prof Oyawa, Covid 19 pandemic has reaffirmed the vital role of research, science, technology and innovation (research systems) as a global public good, for a strengthened national security, enhanced public safety/health and inclusive sustainable development. “Effective public-private knowledge transfer is more crucial to innovation than ever in the aftermath of COVID-19 crisis,” he said.

Prof Njoroge who is a renowned medical researcher and the holder of several patents in the in the USA as well as the founder of the Centre of Africa’s Life Sciences (COAL), a proposed medical hub and tourism project in Naivasha estimated to cost more than Sh20 billion and to employ more than 6,500 people.

Courtesy of Prof Njoroge, the conference consortium welcomed Prof Vincent Onywera, DVC, Research, Innovation and Outreach at KCA University. “We appreciate the great partnerships that have been created during the last three days of this conference and may they be useful and lasting relationships. Let us give ourselves targets to bring in more and more members because together we move far but alone we move fast but will not go very far,” pleaded Prof Jaganyi, the new chairman of the consortium.

Prof Jaganyi said Prof Njoroge’s success in his 40-years career in research and innovation has been partly because of embracing multi- disciplinary partnerships. “From his presentation, the message for this Consortium is to be better advised by being multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional. We are on the right direction as far as partnerships are concerned, but we need more partners on board,” said the VC.

Earlier, the MKU DVC had consulted the outgoing chairman, Prof Eli Katunguka, Vice-Chancellor, Kyambogo University of Uganda and Prof Fecilia Opara of COOU (Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu) University of Nigeria. “I will conduct follow-up consultations with consortium members and chart a strategic direction for the consortium as we consolidate the gains made by the leadership of the outgoing chairman and other predecessors” Prof Jaganyi said.

According to Dr. Yatich, the conference sessions revealed the need for technologically- led innovative approaches to solve the challenges of food insecurity in Africa as this is one of the backbone economic activities that promote improved livelihoods and healthy living.

During the opening session, MKU co-founder Dr. Jane Nyutu welcomed the delegates and wished them a successful forum with useful findings. She said through teaching, research and community engagement has led to MKU’s award to serve for three years as the United Nations Academic Impact for SDG No. 10 on Reduced Inequalities.

“This allows us to partner with many universities, and industry, and with practitioners in all areas that are of positive impact to human life; namely, medicine, animal health and production, education, social and physical sciences among others. Thus, in a collaborative effort, the communities across the world will very well benefit from the joint activities of our deliberations during this conference,” she said.

ENDS.

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