Africa University celebrates 20 years

Africa University will celebrated its 20th Anniversary on Saturday 23 March 2013 at the Africa University campus in Mutare, Zimbabwe. The celebrations marked the 20 years since the founding of Africa University in March 1992. Several events were lined up for the celebrations, including a Seminar on Food Security, Colloquium on Theology and Environment on Friday 22 March. The main celebrations took place on Saturday   23 March 2013 at the Africa University campus in Mutare from 9am. Africa University was the first private University approved by the Government of Zimbabwe in 1992. It was established by the United Methodist Church and is a private; pan African University welcoming students from across 29 African nations.  Africa University Vice Chancellor Professor Fanuel Tagwira said the institution was living up to the mandate and vision of those who had set it up. “We were established by the General Conference of the United Methodist Church and we were granted an Official Charter by the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe His Excellency, President Robert Mugabe in 1992. We thank him for his vision and foresight which has brought us this far. Since its inception in 1992, Africa University has grown to become a highly reputable institution of higher learning, with over 4,500 alumni to date. The University’s uniqueness is derived from its rich pan African diversity which is one of its founding values. In an interview in Mutare, Professor Tagwira revealed that the uniqueness of Africa University was derived from these founding principles. “At its inception, the United Methodist Church was clear in that it wanted to create a University for all of Africa. Africa University has lived up to this expectation, and we even have students from the new nation of South Sudan within the student body at Africa University,” he said. Foreign language acquisition is another key strength of Africa University with students learning at least one foreign language during their studies at Africa University. “Africa was partitioned and the major impediment to the development of our continent was due to the fact that we had different languages in the various regional blocs we have. But at Africa University, we have addressed that problem and we are indeed creating a fluid human intellectual capital for Africa’s growth. Our vision is to bring together people from Africa to and create a community of sharing. We want to break barriers set up at colonialism through language acquisition. We will help break the barriers that separate Africans. We are indeed producing people who can communicate from the language barriers,” he said.   A milestone of the University has been the development of 6 fully fledged faculties and the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance.  When Africa University was established in 1992, it had two faculties: Theology and Agriculture and Natural Resources. To date, the institution has a total of six faculties and the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance. Prof. Tagwira said the University’s next faculty was the Faculty of Science and Technology that was to promote research and teaching in Science and Technology in Zimbabwe and across Africa.  The new Faculty would help Africa in the value addition of its resources as is the case with the Asian Tigers who have experienced phenomenal growth through their investment in science and technology. Prof. Tagwira said the University was investing in the training of the civil service through a grant from the Africa Capacity Building Foundation, ACBF.  “Through our Masters in Public Sector Management, the University is training senior managers and directors in the civil service across Africa. We are helping to develop the public service in Africa,” he said. Another unique programme offered by Africa University is the Master in Intellectual Property degree which was made possible through a tripartite arrangement with the World Intellectual Property Organization in Switzerland and the African Regional Property Organization, ARIPO in Harare. It brings together people from all over the nations of Africa to understand the value of Intellectual Property and how important it is for African nations to harness Intellectual Property for their development. “Africa is endowed with Intellectual Property and we need to harness this and utilize our intellectual property for the development of our nations.  As Africa University, we are bringing in a new consciousness on the value of Intellectual Property so that it benefits the African continent,” he said.   Another goal of the University is to consolidate its distance learning programme through the set up of satellite campuses across the continent of Africa. We will have a presence in Angola, DRC, and Nigeria. There is also a satellite campus in Maputo, Mozambique which was established in 2008. “Our vision is to offer an Africa University education through distance learning. We want to become accessible to the off-campus student, through facilitating on-line learning which will enable our students to access lectures on the wed and chat online with lecturers. This is already happening in Maputo,” Prof. Tagwira said. One of the University’s major priororities is to mobilize resources for the sustenance of the institution. “Our first phase of growth was supported by the United Methodist Church in the United States and Europe. And in the next phase, we are taking control of our destiny to see the further expansion of this University. African Bishops of the United Methodist Church have set the pace. The Corporate world in Zimbabwe has also played an important role in offering assistance to Africa University through scholarship support for our students and we are grateful for the past and ongoing support of this sector. Individuals, Foundations, Supporters have also come forward with support which we are grateful for. We now need the rest of Africa to support this institution,” he said. Africa University alumni are working in various organizations such as national governments, nongovernmental organizations and in various universities across the world. They have also managed to attain the highest academic qualifications, like doctoral degrees. Prof. Tagwira said the University was creating the new leadership for the African continent through the purposive instruction of leadership ethics and values to its students. Prof Tagwira said the University closely aligns itself with the development aspirations of the African continent. The Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance, produces leaders who are champions of peace. Programmes such as those on Public Policy produce people with a grounded understanding and knowledge of Africa’s development issues. “The African continent has made a lot of strides in many of areas such as peace and development, food security, health, infant and maternal health, the MDG’s so to speak. Africa has some of the fastest growing economies. Europe and the United States have surpassed their peak in terms of development, the next twenty years will be for Africa and Africa University will have a critical role to play in this regard,” he said. Prof Tagwira highlighted that the University was creating a critical mass of educated persons. “The Bretton Woods institutions told us that in order to develop, we don’t need higher education; but research has now shown that higher education is directly co-related with development. Our government has made major strides and investments in higher education and Africa University will make its contribution towards African development.”