Universities are essential partners in Africa’s development, and the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) is committed to supporting them as centres of innovation that can attract not only Bank financing but also private investment and venture capital, Vice-President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Nnenna Nwabufo, said.

She was speaking at a symposium held Saturday 23 August, on the sidelines of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9). The event was organised by the University of Tokyo and co-hosted by the University of Pretoria in partnership with the African Development Bank.

The symposium, titled From Campus to Community – University Collaboration between Africa and Japan for Real-World Change, explored how academic partnerships between Africa and Asia can generate new opportunities for co-creation and progress. It took place at the University of Tokyo on Saturday, 23 August.

“As Africa’s premier development finance institution, the African Development Bank sees universities as vital allies — not only as centres of learning, but also as drivers of innovation, engines of entrepreneurship, and catalysts for societal transformation,” Nwabufo said in her keynote address.

“The Bank believes that Africa’s future depends on strong and empowered universities that go beyond producing knowledge to becoming active agents of change,” she added.

Dr Teruo Fujii, President of the University of Tokyo, and Dr Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria, also delivered keynote remarks. Dr Petersen’s message was read on his behalf by Prof Margaret Chigita-Mabugu, Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria. Both speakers emphasised the importance of collaboration through diverse voices, innovative partnerships, and the social impact of Africa–Japan cooperation.

The audience also heard from two panels of experts who further unpacked the role of universities in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation through Africa-Asia collaboration.

Professor Frans Swanepoel, Head, Wits School of Governance, underlined the need for skills development on a continent with such a youthful population. “Education plays a determination in what you achieve as an entrepreneur,” he noted.

Hendrina Droba, Division Manager, Education, Human Capital and Employment at the African Development Bank gave examples of promoting university partnerships for youth and innovation as a core facet of the Bank’s new 10-year strategy. One of the  most successful is the Japan Africa Dream Scholarship.

Mary Yeboah Asantewaa from Ghana, a recipient of the scholarship, shared how the opportunity opened up career pathways which led to her current employment in healthcare and using innovative drone technology to fight malaria.

Putting university education and skills development top of the agenda

The African Development Bank is committed to leveraging the potential and power of universities through five areas: by integrating universities into investment programs – ensuring that higher education institutions are embedded within national development and industrialization projects supported by the Bank; financing skills and innovation ecosystems; fostering university-industry partnerships – so that universities become not only knowledge producers but also co-creators with private sector players; supporting entrepreneurship hubs and technology parks within universities; and facilitating knowledge-sharing platforms that enable universities to showcase their innovations and attract investment.

The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (https://apo-opa.co/4oUsefa) is a capacity building program by the African Development Bank and the Government of Japan. The program, initiated in 2017, offers high-achieving African students a two-year scholarship opportunity to pursue post-graduate studies at master’s level in energy, agriculture, health, environmental sustainability and engineering. To date, 41 students have been awarded full scholarships, with 27 and 14 of them in Japanese and African partner universities respectively.

“I am glad to say that the University of Tokyo is a partner in this program,” Nwabufo said. “Partnership between African and Japanese universities is one sure way of strengthening and fostering long-term partnership and collaboration between Africa and Japan, as the African trainees of today will become the leaders of tomorrow.”