Kabwila calls for institutionalization of Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs)

Lilongwe, April 8, MANA: The Minister of Higher Education, Dr. Jessie Kabwila, has made a call for the institutionalization of Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs) to ensure their long-term sustainability and integration into university structures and national development frameworks.

The minister made the call on Monday in Accra, Ghana, at the 10th Anniversary for Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence themed "Celebrating a Decade of Impact and Innovation of Africa Centers of Excellence Program".

She emphasised on the importance of embedding ACE activities within the strategic frameworks, governance, and operations of universities, saying this would allow ACEs to endure beyond donor funding cycles, thereby transforming universities into regional hubs of innovation, research, and development.

“The ACE initiative has been a game changer for our universities; It has strengthened institutional capacity, expanded high-quality postgraduate training, and accelerated applied research. However, for these gains to last, ACEs must be fully absorbed into university systems and national planning frameworks,” said Kabwila.

The minister shared with the international community the numerous achievements of the ACE II in Malawi, citing a few examples, including over 1,000 MSc students and over 120 PhD students trained; international accreditation of programmes at LUANAR; over 350 papers published in referred journals; enterprise incubation hubs and Spinoffs being set up at MZUNI, LUANAR and UNIMA; development and approval of traditional and complementary medicine policy in the Ministry of Health by KUHeS; and postgraduate infrastructure developments and research equipment at KUHeS, LUANAR, MZUNI and UNIMA.

However, Kabwila noted that short-term project timeframe poses significant risks to long-term sustainability.

“The Centres were forced to prioritize immediate results over strategic planning, post-project evaluation, and sustainability. We need to correct this by allowing realistic timelines in future project designs,” she said.

The minister also highlighted key challenges, including delays in funding disbursement, limited infrastructure, and coordination challenges among coordinating and implementing partners like IUCEA and Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM).

She noted that critical components such as enterprise incubation suffered due to late provision of guidelines.

She lauded the ACEs in Malawi for tackling pressing national priorities—including the commercialization of fisheries, food safety, climate-smart agriculture, and data-informed policymaking—while expressing concern over the lack of support for innovations developed by postgraduate students.

She said that the memorandum of Understandings, (MoUs) signed with local, regional, and international partners have been a strong step forward, but without dedicated financing mechanisms, universities may struggle to implement agreed work plans.

Kabwila further proposed a new ACE program aimed at integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, climate and hydrological modelling, and Internet of Things (IoT) platforms to support agri-systems and real-time monitoring, with Malawi’s focus shifting towards large-scale agricultural commercialization.

“It is time to cement and scale the progress we’ve made. We need to ensure our research and development ecosystems are rooted in strong institutional frameworks, well-resourced, and linked to community and national development,” she said.

She reaffirmed Malawi’s commitment to the MW2063 development agenda and called on regional partners and the international community to support the continued evolution of ACEs as a vital engine for Africa’s higher education transformation.

Since the launch of the program across the Africa in 2014 with support from the World Bank, Malawi has established 6 ACEs in some of the country’s higher learning institutions, including LUANAR, MZUNI, and UNIMA.

The Miniter was accompanied to the meeting in Accra by the Secretary of Higher Education, Dr. Levis Eneya, and staff from the Malawi ACEs led by the Vice Chancellor of UNIMA, Prof. Samson Sajidu, Deputy Vice Chancellor of MZUNI, Prof. Wapulumuka Mulwafu, and Deputy Vice Chancellor of LUANAR, Associate Prof. Agnes Mwangwela.