By Martin Paul Abuja
Th e World Bank has challenged the African Centres of Excellence (ACEs) it is sponsoring in Nigerian universities to ensure that their research fi ndings are put to use by the productive sector. Education Director of the Bank, Jaime Chanduvi, threw the challenge in Abuja while on a visit to one of the centres at the African University of Science and Technology (AUST). Ten of the 23 ACEs in Africa are in Nigeria and the project was approved in 2013 and would last till 2018 with the World Bank committing $150 million to the project. Chanduvi commended the impact made so far by the research fi ndings produced by the centres, saying that the ACEs were put in place to provide quality education to the youth in science and technology as well as to create jobs.
He described ACE as a great opportunity to improve research and quality of instructions in diff erent departments of universities throughout Africa. “Th e work these young ones are doing is not just to build a career but to create job opportunities for other Africans in the future,” he said. “Th e 10 ACEs in Nigeria are providing very high quality education in science and technology to young people here in Nigeria and also people from other African countries.”
He explained that the project was a huge investment of the World Bank to assist with the processes of growth and development and creation of job opportunities. In his welcome remarks, the President of AUST, Kingston Nyamapfene, said ACE in the University, Pan African Material Institute (PAMI), focused on providing solutions to African needs in the areas of electricity, water purifi cation and disease detection, among others. While commending the World Bank for the project, he said the centre had been attracting students from Nigeria and other African countries, adding that PAMI recently graduated scores of PhD and masters students
