Association of African Universities

The Association of African Universities (AAU) (Arabic: اتحاد الجامعات الأفريقية, French: Association des universités africaines) is a university association of African universities based in Accra, Ghana. With member institutions all around Africa, AAU provides a forum for cooperation and exchange of information on higher education and research policies.

Association of African Universities

اتحاد الجامعات الأفريقية (Arabic) Association des universités africaines (French) Associação das Universidades Africanas (Portuguese) የአፍሪካ ዩኒቨርስቲዎች ማህበር (Amharic) Chama cha Vyuo Vikuu Afrika (Swahili)
Open air event at the AAU Headquarters in 2011
Abbreviation	AAU
Formation	November 12, 1967 (1967-11-12)
Founder	African universities initiated by UNESCO
Location	Accra, Ghana
Origins	1962 UNESCO Summit in Antananarivo, followed by the 1963 Khartoum preparatory committee meeting
Region served	Africa
Fields	International cooperation in higher education
Website	www.aau.org

History

AAU was founded in Rabat, Morocco on November 12, 1967, following recommendations made at an earlier conference organized by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Antananarivo, Madagascar in September 1962. Antananarivo meeting called upon its participants to establish an organization for mutual cooperation.

The Antananarivo recommendations were taken up by a preparatory Committee of the heads of African institutions of higher education, which met in Khartoum in September 1963 and drafted the founding constitution of the association. With an initial membership of 34, the association now has over 373 members from 46 countries, cutting across language and other divides.

The association has provided a platform for research, reflection, consultation, debates, co-operation and collaboration on issues pertaining to higher education. It has provided a range of services to its members and served African higher education in a variety of ways. It has established and increased its role in the five sub-regions of Africa and is thus able, at reasonable notice, to assemble teams of experts in relevant fields from the sub-regions.

The association possesses a unique capacity to convene higher education institutional leaders and policy-makers from all parts of the continent and on key issues related to African higher education and development, as demonstrated in the WTO/GATS workshop held in Ghana in April 2004. In addition, the association provides leadership in the identification of emerging issues and support for debating them and facilitating appropriate follow-up action by its members, partners and other stakeholders.

Members

• Ardhi University
• University of Dar es Salaam
• Eduardo Mondlane University
• Islamic University in Uganda
• Makerere University
• Muslim University of Morogoro
• Mzumbe University
• Open University of Tanzania
• St. Augustine University of Tanzania
• Sokoine University of Agriculture
• Uganda Martyrs University
• University of the Sacred Heart Gulu
• Zanzibar University

See also

• List of higher education associations and alliances
• Universities in Africa

Further reading

• Livsey, Timothy. "Imagining an Imperial Modernity: Universities and the West African Roots of Colonial Development." Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 44.6 (2016): 952–975.

External links

• Official website
  • Full list of member universities
• Programs & Services