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Africa Centers of Excellence
April 27, 2017
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Background Sub-Saharan Africa lags behind in higher education and research output in science, technology, agriculture, health and related fields Recent rapid economic transformation and foreign investment have boosted demand for greater technological skills and applied research in these areas
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Researchers in Sub-Saharan Africa
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2015)
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Tertiary Graduates and Researchers in Africa
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2015)
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State of STEM Research Collaboration in Africa
STEM research in most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa relies heavily on international collaboration, a factor that signals lack of internal research capacity or the critical mass needed for the continent to produce international quality research on its own.
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A Regional Solution Since individual countries have limited resources/capacity, they take much longer to meet labor market demands on their own. A coordinated regional approach can build upon existing, relatively strong academic institutions in the region to collectively produce skilled workforce, especially in priority sectors with the greatest demand.
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ACE as a Response What are ACEs? What do ACEs aim to achieve?
Existing African institutions, competitively selected using criteria benchmarked to the best international practices in postgraduate education. What do ACEs aim to achieve? Promote regional specialization among participating universities in areas that address specific common regional development challenges Strengthen the capacities of these universities to deliver quality, market-relevant post-graduate education, and build collaborative research capacity in select priority sectors, such as health, agriculture, extractive industries, or transport, etc.
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Overview – ACE I & ACE II 46 Centers of Excellence across Africa
22 in Central and West Africa 24 in Eastern and Southern Africa 16 Countries 10 priority sectors US$ 313: US$ 165 for ACE I and US$ 148 for ACE II Funding of each center is tied to agreed results and only disbursed for their achievement – ensuring ownership and focusing on results.
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Forging a network to support SSA’s development
EXAMPLES OF BANK-SUPPORTED RESULTS IN 2011& 2012 Forging a network to support SSA’s development Cameroon IT (1) Rwanda IT (1); Energy (1) Education (1); Statistics (1) Nigeria Agriculture (3); IT (1); Extractives (1); Material Science (1); Health (4) Senegal IT (1) Health (1) Uganda Agriculture (2) Material Science (1) Health (1) Ethiopia Agriculture (1); Water (1); Transport (1); Health (1) Burkina Faso Water (1) Kenya Agriculture (2) Energy (1) Tanzania Agriculture (2; Water (1); Health (1) Ivory Coast Agriculture (1) Statistics (1) Extractives (1) Ghana Agriculture (1) Water Mgt. (1) Health (1) Malawi Agriculture (1) Health (1) Benin Applied Math (1) Togo Agriculture (1) Mozambique Extractives (1) Zambia Extractives (1); Health (1)
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Distribution by Thematic Area
Agriculture (14); Information Technology (4); Energy (2) Extractives (Oil, Gas, Mining) (2); Water Management and Infrastructure (4) Material Science and Mining (4); Transport (1); Health (11) Education (1); Statistics (3)
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ACE Structure Center level project management teams
Coordinated by a Regional Facilitation Unit (RFU): AAU for ACE I IUCEA for ACE II Supported/supervised by a National Steering Committee (NSC) and guided by a Regional Steering Committee (RSC) World Bank Core Task Team, fiduciary and safeguards teams mostly based in countries, country-based team leaders
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Funds are disbursed only when the agreed results are achieved:
Results-based Financing Model Funds are disbursed only when the agreed results are achieved: Achieves better results by shifting from input-based to performance/results- based financing Respect for institutional autonomy and leadership, and still aligns institutional objectives with development goals Improves institutional capacity to plan, decide and implement Agrees on a set of results which are measurable, achievable and within control of institution Makes funding allocation objective, predictable, and transparent Uses government procurement rules to strengthen capacity Increases accountability
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Overall, ACEs’ Goals Outreach and impact on society, gender and regional equity Build institutional capacity to provide quality post graduate education of relevance to the job market Build institutional capacity to conduct applied research of high quality, which is relevant to development challenges Build/enhance partnerships with other academic institutions (national, regional and international) Build/enhance partnerships with industry and private sector institutions Teach through their benchmarked programs to help other institutions improve quality Improve governance and management of the institution at all levels
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ACE II: Eastern & Southern Africa
US$ 148 million, Launched in October 2016
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Capacity Building Support to ACEs through Regional Interventions
ACE II Objectives To strengthen selected Eastern and Southern African higher education institutions to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas. Component 1 Strengthening Africa Centers of Excellence (ACEs) I Regional Priority Areas Component 2 Capacity Building Support to ACEs through Regional Interventions Component 3 Facilitation, Coordination, and Administration of Project Implementation
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Role of Regional Facilitation Unit
ACE II Project is coordinated & administered by IUCEA as the Regional Facilitation Unit; IUCEA was competitively selected Implements Component 2 & 3 Provides M&E support to ACEs Builds capacity and facilitates knowledge-sharing Supports partnership development and operations Supported by a National Steering Committee (NSC), at each country level At the regional level, guided by a Regional Steering Committee
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Center Selection Process
Objective, transparent, and merit-based competitive selection A call for proposals preceded an independent, two-step evaluation – (1) a technical review, and (2) an onsite and leadership assessment Selected ACEs underwent financial management, procurement and safeguards assessments Selection Criteria: Addressing a specific challenge in one of the priority areas in the region High proposal quality Institutional capacity Providing geographical balance Eligibility and availability for IDA funding
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ACE II: Selected ACEs and their Universities
5 Sectors: Industry Agriculture Health Education Statistics 24 centers 17 universities
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4 Disbursement Linked Indicators 14 Disbursement Linked Results
ACE II Disbursement linked indicators 4 Disbursement Linked Indicators 14 Disbursement Linked Results Institutional Readiness (US$ 1.1m) 1.1: Completion of Effectiveness ($600 k) 1.2: Development of the Project Implementation Plan ($500k) 2. Excellence in education and research capacity and development impact (US$ 4.3 m) 2.1: Timely annual implementation of the plans ($100 m) 2.2: Newly enrolled students in the ACE of which at least 20% must be regional African students ($ 1.2m) 2.3: Accreditation of quality of education programs ($600k) 2.4: Partnerships for collaboration in applied research and training ($200k) 2.5: Peer reviewed journal papers or peer reviewed conference papers prepared collaboratively with national, regional, or international coauthors ($300k) 2.6: Faculty and PhD student exchanges to promote regional research and teaching collaborations (500k) 2.7: External revenue generation ($900k) 2.8: Institution participating in benchmarking exercise ($100k) 3. Timely, transparent and institutionally reviewed Financial Management (US$ 300 k) 3.1: Timely withdrawal applications supported by interim unaudited financial reports for each ACE ($75k) 3.2: Functioning audit committee under each university ($75k) 3.3: Functional internal audit unit for each university ($75k) 3.4: Transparency of financial management ($75k) 4: Timely and audited procurement (US$ 300 k) 4.1: Timely procurement audit report for each ACE ($150k) 4.2: Timely and satisfactory procurement progress report for each ACE ($150k)
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Cumulative Target (baseline in brackets)
ACE II: Targets Sectors Unique to ACE II Railways Education & Research; Innovative Teaching and Learning Mathematics and Science Targets for Select Results Indicators by end of Project: Results Indicator Cumulative Target (baseline in brackets) Students enrolled in ACEs PhD programs 773 (137) Female students enrolled in ACEs PhD programs 273 (36) Internationally recognized research publications in disciplines supported by the ACE program & regional co-authors 1454 (194) Amount of externally generated revenue by the ACEs $ 29.7 (6.1) million
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Partnerships Key objective is to increase the capacity of ACE institutions to deliver quality education and conduct research Partnership with private sector is encouraged to increase the relevance of the programs offered, in addition to any fundraising objectives At least 15% of project funding must be invested in partnerships, and at least 10% must be invested in partnership activities with regional partners Partnerships can be developed with academic institutions, including research institutions, and industry partners, including both private sector partners and community institutions MOUs need to be backed up with detailed actions plan or letter agreement with goals, outputs, roles responsibilities, and budget on both sides At least one private sector partnership is required to trigger the release of funding tied to partnership DLI
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Potential Pathways on Private Partnerships
Inviting local NCI companies to be in the center governance council bodies Inviting relevant major private companies to be in the center governance advisory bodies Engaging companies in the development of occupational standards, curriculum and programs Piloting “customer-ordered training programs” Establishing “learning factories” or R&D centers for large companies Sharing of technology and production equipment Internships and workplace exposure for faculty and students servicing of community and local small and medium enterprises with services and R&D solutions Negotiating with companies for graduate employment
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ACE II Recent Developments
As of April 27, 2017: The ACE II Project officially launched on Oct 26, 2016, in Nairobi 6/8 countries have been declared effective, along with IUCEA 8 centers have received the disbursement for DLI 1 (2 in Ethiopia, 4 in Rwanda, and 2 in Malawi); IUCEA received its 1st disbursement IUCEA in the process of contracting independent verification firms for verification process of successive DLIs Effective centers have begun enrolling students, developed new programs, have obtained or preparing for national approval/accreditation; and investigating on regional and international accreditation of new partnerships; ACEs are actively reaching out to partners
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Issues and Observations
As of April 27, 2017: Two countries have not yet become effective; Disbursement of DLI 1 for some of the effective countries has been a little slow Center management and academic staff have not yet been fully established (including IUCEA) Center Vision, legal status, sustainability (formally incorporated into the university structure or metamorphosis into truly autonomous self sustaining Africa centers of excellence?) Development of new programs: needs assessment, consultation, national approval/accreditation, regional and international accreditation General lack of comprehensive and long term strategy for faculty/researcher recruitment and development Attracting regional and female students Balancing autonomy and necessary support from the host university Developing and managing partnership Operational challenges in disbursement, procurement, and understanding DLIs and DLRs.
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Way Forward: ACEs Finalize and submit Annual Work Plan (AWP) 2017 for World Bank review by May 15, 2017 Updating using template IUCEA sent (based on the 1st year plan contained in the IP) adding procurement plan annexes on faculty development and new program development plans incorporating and revising partnership lists and budgets adding plan to conduct graduate tracer study appointing external financial auditor (or audit general) and procurement auditor incorporating the various training, you may need to leave some contingency for unplanned events going forward, AWP due on March 31, 2017, or November 30 for Mozambique and Tanzania, as per financing agreement Submit results framework indicators update to IUCEA by May 15, 2017 Work towards effectiveness/disbursement Implementation! adhering to annual work plans organizing internal project sensitization and team capacity building developing core programs recruiting students (advertise through MOE and IUCEA websites for regional female students)
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Way Forward IUCEA Updating IUCEA work plan (with World Bank no objection) taking into consideration financial audit report and assessments and feedback from the ACE and RSC meetings in Addis value for money for workshop and travels, documented guidelines for honorariums and travel allowances considers recruiting an internal audit staff for the project for a more effective and functional Unit. procurement consultant vs full-time procurement staff Facilitate the ACEs to recruit regional and female students (including targeted scholarships) Procurement of M&E, procurement(if need be), and independent verifier, by July 2017 Consolidation of results framework indicators by May 15, 2017-responsibility of IUCEA Develop Component 2 plan with ACE feedback by June 30, 2017 for World Bank no objection Develop a plan of visiting and supporting ACEs Facilitating networking among the ACEs both ACEI and ACEII Organize next ACEI and ACEII meeting jointly with AAU November 6-8, 2017 Providing communications support to ACEs and regularly publish highlights and successes Developing and maintaining a roster of frontier technical experts (agriculture, health, industry, statistics/education)
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Way forward World Bank Review Annual Work Plans and provide no objection by May 30, 2017 Organize periodic country based financial management, disbursement, procurement and safeguards training Share TOR for financial and procurement audits, sample template of procurement plan Organize the Africa China World Bank 1st Education Forum on Higher Education Science and Technology July 10-15, 2013 PASET secretariat prepare TOR to recruit an African institution to host benchmarking, organize benchmarking in February 2017 Organize November 6-8, 2017 ACEI and ACEII Meeting in Ghana Create communication between ACEI and ACEII
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Some questions: Overhead charges by partners;
Incentives for center staff (formalized structure in university, university incentive financing policies, pros and cons) Expenditure is eligible from the signing date and can be reimbursed when project becomes effective. Publication: peer reviewed only, self-reporting and to be verified by independent verifier
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