An international conference on Innovative Approaches to Funding Higher Education and Research in Africa has opened in Lome, Togo with a call on member countries to find new ways of funding the tertiary educational institutions.

Professor Etienne Ehouon Ehile, Secretary General of the Association of African Universities, who made the call, said with the current high demand for tertiary education, the states alone could not fully fund higher education and research in Africa.

“It is, therefore, necessary to develop new strategies to mobilize financial resources that would contribute to the empowerment of African universities,” he explained.

That, according to Prof Ehile, would not only improve the level of quality higher education for students but also transfer the socio-economic needs for improving the entrepreneurial capacity for both the local and international job markets.

The three-day meeting is being hosted by the Togolese Government and sponsored by UNESCO, the Association of African Universities (AAU), the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA ), and the African and Malagasy Council on Higher Education (CAMES).

About 100 delegates from Africa and its development partners are attending the conference.

They include African Higher Education stakeholders such as Senior Staff Members of Ministries in charge of Higher Education and Research, Senior Staff Members of Ministries of Finance, Members of African Parliaments, Vice Chancellors, Presidents, Rectors and Heads of African Universities and Research Institutions.

Others are the Private Sector, Civil Society, African Union and all African Regional Organizations and Development Partners.

Ghana’s 20- member delegation is led by Mr. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, a Deputy Minister of Education in-charge of Tertiary Education. Others are Dr Pascal Andoh Hoba, Director of Knowledge, Communication, ICT and Services and Professor D.D. Kuupole, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast.

Artheme Seleagodji Ahoomey-Zunu, Prime Minister of Togo, who opened the conference said, there should be a process that would develop a common strategy to help improve the capacity of experts in member countries to work for the achievement of the needed innovations.

The Togolese Minister of Higher Education and Research called for new ideas to be injected into the higher educational system to bring out products that would easily fit into the global market.

Among other things, the conference aims at developing a synergy regarding implementation of activities to support countries and universities, to with the support of partner organizations, to deal with the various challenges.

It is also support African countries in identifying innovative approaches tailored to their contexts for funding higher education and research.

It is also to help disseminate among universities and Ministries through a joint publication, acts of the conference, existing best practices, and to develop a common strategy to monitor and support countries in the development of new strategies for mobilizing and sustaining resources for higher education and research.

Five models of best practices from Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, South Africa and Rwanda have been developed for discussion.

New models or mechanism of funding higher education in Africa would be adopted at the conference.