Accra, Dec. 8, GNA - The Accra Institute of Technology (AIT) has been given full

accreditation by the Togolese authorities to open a campus in Lome to offer degree programmes

in a number of areas, a statement released by Ms Eliza Sam, Director of Communications of

AIT, said in Accra on Tuesday. It said the Togo campus, which would operate under the name the Togo Institute of

Technology (TIT), would be an English-based university in a French-speaking country, the first

of its kind in Africa. TIT is accredited to offer degree programmes in Engineering, Science and Technology,

Business Administration, Information Technology, Computer Science, Architecture, Humanities

among others. The statement said as a fully accredited degree awarding institution, TIT would be awarding

Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees. Graduates of TIT will, apart from being experts in their

chosen field of study, be fluent in French and English. According to the President of AIT, Professor Clement Dzidonu, the opening of an AIT

campus outside Ghana, the first Ghanaian university to do so, was in line with the goal of AIT to

lead the way in transforming Ghana into a higher education hub within the West African sub-

region and beyond. The Togo campus, targeted at attracting francophone students from Togo, Benin, Burkina

Faso, Niger and Dr Congo and Republic of Congo, is the first of such campuses AIT plans to

establish. Dr Sola Afolabi, a Director in the Office of the Vice President of the Economic Community

of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, said the establishment of the Togo Institute of

Technology to produce graduates in various fields and disciplines who were also fluent in

French and English, was in line with ECOWAS' regional integration policy. Professor Francis Allotey, the Chairman of the AIT Board of Trustees, noted that given that

we are now living in a global village, the need for our engineers, business managers, computer

scientists and other professionals to be able to communicate in more than one international

language was paramount. He said AIT was leading the way in this respect. The statement said Francophone students entering TIT would be required to do an intensive

one semester English language course to prepare them for embarking on their degree

programmes where lectures would be in English. These students would continue to do additional

English lessons alongside their regular degree programmes. Togolese Education Minister Olivia Amedjogbe-Kouevi said they were delighted to be part of

the innovative idea of operating an English-based University in a Francophone country. "We do expect that graduates from TIT will not only be highly trained in their respective

fields but also acquire bilingual skills that will make them highly competitive in the job market

within English and French speaking countries in the region and beyond," she said. 8 Dec. 09