Professor Ahmed Bawa
"The Higher Education sector in South Africa has never been more successful before.
The research output is on a good trajectory, but the challenge is the extent to which we can get much stronger absorption from the private sector. It solely depends on the investment in R&D and the development of new products."
Professor Barnabas Nawangwe
Uganda based Makere University is already considered to be Africa's second most research-intensive University. Vice-Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe and his team have built a network of academic partners that include elite international Universities such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Tsinghua University.
Now with a vision to be East Africa's innovation hub, Makere University is building new ties with the private sector and launching a business incubation unit within the University to support the commercialisation of African ideas and research.
Africa's potential will only be fulfilled if the drivers of innovation in private sector companies can work with the continent's leading Universities to foster research & development on the continent. Prof. Nawange tells AfricaLive of Africa's renaissance in research and calls for more engagement with industry to accelerate African development.
Sipho Mseleku
After building South Africa based Sakhumnotho Group Holdings into a thriving, diversified investment firm, CEO Sipho Mseleku began to look at the challenges facing Africa's entrepreneurs. Realising that Africa's chances of economic success are limited by an education system that fails to develop an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset in Africa's youth, Mr Mseleku and Sakhumnotho Group have put entrepreneurial education at the heart of their mission.
Through the Global School of Entrepreneurship and Global Business Roundtable, Sakhumnnotho Group has set about creating the environment required for SMEs to develop across the continent.
In this interview, Mr Mseleku shares his views with AfricaLive on the importance of morals and ethics in business and puts forward an ambitious vision for uplifting Africa through the power of entrepreneurship, impact investing, and empowering the youth of the continent.
Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka
In addition to leading the University of Ibadan, Prof. Abel Idowu Olayinka also serves as the Chairman of the Alliance of Research Universities in Africa. African Universities are stepping up collaborative efforts to improve the continent's research capacity and put Africa on the global research map. As Prof. Olayinka explains in this interview, African universities face unique challenges in funding and supporting research & development, but a culture of collaboration is bringing change.
