Welcome to IUCEA

Vision:  IUCEA becomes an exemplary common higher education area for a prosperous and sustainable East African Community by 2030.

Mission: To encourage and develop mutually beneficial collaboration between Member Universities and between them and Governments and other organizations, both public and private

IUCEA Core Values:  Accountability, Transparency, Unity, Diversity, Integrity, Professionalism and Teamwork

IUCEA executive members visiting IUCEA premise

The 12th Academia-Public Private Partnership Forum Held at Julius Nyerere International Convention Centre, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania 15th – 17th March 2023

  COMMUNIQUE 

The 12th Academia-Public-Private Partnership Forum (APPPF), CONVENING on 15th – 17th March 2023 at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania under the theme Nurturing Sustainable  Skills Development for Graduate Employability: 

NOTES and APPRECIATES the efforts, commitment and determination of the Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) through engagement with strategic  Development Partners in fostering skills development; 

FURTHER NOTES other ongoing initiatives by IUCEA in addressing issues related to  skills development, including Centres of Excellence projects and the establishment of  Research and Innovation Hubs in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs); 

COMMENDS IUCEA for conceiving and sustaining the Academia-Public-Private  Partnership Forum and Exhibition; 

ACKNOWLEDGES that the forum provides an opportunity for sharing issues of common  interest for the EAC partner states; 

RECOGNISES the need for member states to develop and improve on national policies to  facilitate academia-industry partnerships and bilateral engagement with development  partners; 

CALLS UPON Higher Education Institutions to come up with new strategies that will  enable the establishment of strong partnerships with the public and private sectors in  order to produce the skills required by the labour market; 

REALISES that there is a paradigm shift in terms of educational pedagogy from lecturer centred to learner-centred; 

RECOGNISES the commitment by the EAC partner states to human capital development for economic growth of the EAC region; 

ACKNOWLEDGES the role of the private sector in the provision of education and  leveraging the government investments in the education sector; 

UPHOLDS the need for academia-public-private partnership in policy reforms. 

APPEALS for IUCEA to take the lead in the internationalisation of HEIs in the EAC region  through regional integration mechanisms;

12th APPP Forum and Exhibition Communique! Page 1 of 3    

CALLS for the Governments in the EAC region to continue supporting the ongoing  initiatives by employer organisations and the private sector that contribute to skills and  human capital development by funding entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives; 

CALLS UPON the establishment of strong academia-public-private collaborations and  partnerships that embrace apprenticeship and internship programmes; 

APPRECIATES the opportunities emanating from the use of ICT and the potential  benefits accrued from the digital economy; 

CONSIDERS the need to revisit the business processes related to the accreditation of  academic programmes in order to keep pace with the new developments and cope with  the labour market demands; 

ADMITS that there is a need for continuous updating of curricula to cope with the  changing labour market demands; 

UPHOLDS that the academia needs to reach out to the industry through different  engagements; 

NOTES that some private firms are ready and willing to collaborate with academia; 

CONSIDERS that there is a need to think about new ways that would provide incentives and encourage academia to participate in government business/processes and add value  to the economy; 

CALLS UPON Higher Education Institutions to provide conducive governance and  structural environment to streamline industrial engagement, establishment of incubation  centres and innovation hubs leading to business spin-offs; 

FURTHER CALLS UPON Higher Education Institutions to encourage academicians to  develop enterprises through knowledge transfer and commercialization; 

ACKNOWLEDGES that commercialisation of research output should take into account  the societal environment; 

APPRECIATES the importance of technology transfer and Intellectual Property Rights; 

CONSIDERS that for effective Academia-Public-Private Partnerships, there is a need for  a clear definition of the roles and contributions of different stakeholders; 

CAUTIONS that successful strategic partnerships should be guided by institutional,  national and regional policy and legal framework; 

CONSIDERS that the research conducted by academic staff should inform and guide what  learners are taught; 

NOTES and APPRECIATES the various business and trade opportunities that countries in the region can tap into based on the strategic position of the continent in the world. 

URGES IUCEA to incorporate relevant experiences learnt and best practices from the  implementation of development partners-funded projects into its policies or operation of  its core business and;

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FURTHER URGES IUCEA, in partnership with relevant stakeholders, to take lead in the  development of conducive regional-based policy frameworks and strategies to facilitate  effective industry-academia partnership and technology transfer.  

In Partnership with  

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