International news
Issue 11 - December 2012
African Economic Outlook
AfricanEconomicOutlook.org
AfricanEconomicOutlook.org is the latest evolution of the annual African Economic Outlook report. The website provides comprehensive and comparable data and analysis of 53 African economies. Each country profile is generated by an expert from a partner institution who meets with and collects data and information from the most important stakeholders in each context. There are data and statistics on macroecomic prospects as well as social context and human development.
ANIE (The African Network for Internationalization of Education)
4th Annual Conference
The 4th Annual Conference of ANIE was held at the University of Pretoria South Africa from 26-28 September 2012. The theme of this year’s was Internationalization of Higher Education in Africa: Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risks. The conference brought together participants from close to 40 different countries. The main point of discussion was on how African universities could deal with the challenges of internationalization and at the same time take advantage of the opportunities.
African Union
Institute for Remittances (AIR)
On 15-16 July 2012, the 19th AU assembly of Heads of State and Government endorsed the establishment of the African Institute for Remittances (AIR). The decision followed the report of the fifth Joint Annual Meeting of the African Union (AU) Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the Declaration of the Global Diaspora Summit held in South Africa in May 2012 that adopted the AIR as one of the five legacy projects of the AU.
CHET (Centre for Higher Education Transformation)
Cross-National Performance Indicators: A case study of eight African universities.
CHET collected a set of cross-national, comparative data on the performance of eight African universities: Eduardo Mondlane University (Mozambique), Makerere University (Uganda), University of Botswana, University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), University of Ghana, University of Nairobi (Kenya) and the University of Mauritius. The data are available online and will be updated early in 2013.
HED (Higher Education for Development)
South Sudan Higher Education Initiative for Equity and Leadership Development (SSHIELD) Program (2012)
Higher Education for Development (HED), in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is issuing a Request for Applications (RFA) for the South Sudan Higher Education Initiative for Equity and Leadership Development (SSHIELD) Program under the global Women’s Leadership Program.
MasterCard Foundation
The MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program
The MasterCard Foundation pledged US$500 million for scholarships for African students over the next 10 years. Many of the students will enrol at institutions that are partners in the programme. Among them are the American University of Beirut, Arizona State University, Ashesi University, Duke University, EARTH University, Michigan State University, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley and Wellesley College.
USAID
USAID steps up its science efforts
The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has elevated science's level within the organisation, in a bid to push science and technology (S&T) to the forefront of US government development policy. USAID also announced that it is setting up a Higher Education Solutions Network (HESN), comprising seven leading American and foreign universities and "designed to develop innovative solutions to global development challenges".