THE AFRICAN COURIER. Reporting Africa and its Diaspora! The African Courier is an international magazine published in Germany to report on Africa and the Diaspora African experience. The first issue of the bimonthly magazine appeared on the newsstands on 15 February 1998. The African Courier is a communication forum for European-African political, economic and cultural exchanges, and a voice for Africa in Europe.
Pittsburgh, US-based Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) has opened its newly-built African campus in Kigali, Rwanda. The institution is the only American research university offering master’s degrees with a full-time faculty, staff and operations in Africa.
Inaugurating the campus on Friday (22 November), President Paul Kagame said Rwanda had the potential, will and capacity of hosting international centres of excellence such as the Carnegie Mellon University to innovate solutions that enable building of capacities and technology access on the entire African continent.
Kagame revealed the discussions that took place in the US with the management of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and how they supported the idea of bringing the university to Rwanda.
“Not everyone thought this project would succeed; some even thought it was a waste of time, but there were also many that supported the project and they put a lot of effort until it came through,” Kagame said.
“This world-class education is offered right here on the continent to young Africans who are able to learn and do in the very context of challenges that need to be addressed…this makes a difference in terms of solutions that are informed by reality,” said President Kagame.
The new campus is built on an expansive 6,000 square metres and is equipped with modern facilities and laboratories that will enable distance learning and teleconferencing for students, who are currently from different African countries.
In partnership with the Government of Rwanda, Carnegie Mellon University Africa was established in 2011 to address the critical shortage of high-quality engineering talent required to accelerate development in Africa. To date, CMU-Africa has educated more than 300 students from 18 African countries with master’s degrees in Information Technology and Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Kola Tella
More information about CMU-Africa here
