Ghana’s Vice President, Profr Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, will be the Special Guest of Honour at the Africa Centres of Excellence (ACE) 10th Anniversary Celebration, set to take place from April 7 to 9, 2025, in Accra.

Ousmane Diagana, World Bank Vice President for West & Central Africa, will also participate in the event, alongside ministers of finance and higher education from 20 participating African countries.

“This prestigious event will feature personalities and dignitaries, including the Vice President of Ghana, who will officially open the ceremony on Monday, April 7, 2025,” said Millicent Afriyie Adjei, Communications Lead for the ACE Impact Project at the Association of African Universities (AAU), during a press briefing on March 27, 2025.

She added, “We are also expecting the World Bank’s regional vice president, as well as key directors and managers from the World Bank, to join the discussions on higher education and research advancements in Africa.”

The ACE Programme, launched in 2014, has played a pivotal role in advancing higher education, research, and innovation across Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Over the past decade, the initiative has supported more than 80 centres in 50 universities across 20 countries, training thousands of postgraduate students and developing cutting-edge research in STEM, health, agriculture, environment, and applied social sciences.

Speaking on the programme’s impact, Prof Olusola Oyewole, Secretary General of the AAU, emphasized that the ACE initiative has strengthened African universities by improving postgraduate education, research capacity, and industry collaboration.

“The ACE programme has been transformative in equipping African universities with the skills, tools, and resources needed to address the continent’s most pressing development challenges,” he stated.

Rev Prof Ing Eric Antwi Ofosu, Centre Director of the Regional Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability (RCEES) at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, described the initiative as a game-changer for postgraduate education.

“For me, I would say the ACE is one of the best things that has happened to Africa. Thanks to our governments and the World Bank for making this a reality,” he remarked.

The three-day event will highlight key achievements, research breakthroughs, and innovations from the ACE programme. 

It will feature:Inspiring stories from young entrepreneurs

Discussions on women in STEM

Breakout sessions on innovation and industry collaboration

According to Felix Abagale, Centre Director of the West Africa Centre for Water, Irrigation, and Sustainable Agriculture (WACWISA) at the University for Development Studies, the programme has led to significant financial investments and research advancements. 

Each ACE centre has received approximately $6.4 million, leading to state-of-the-art research infrastructure and an increase in scientific publications.

WACWISA alone has trained students from over 20 African countries, while RCEES has increased its annual research output from 57 publications to over 400.

 The programme has also helped universities gain international accreditation, ensuring that graduates can compete on the global stage.

As the ACE programme nears the completion of its third phase in June 2025, discussions at the 10th-anniversary event will focus on sustainability strategies, policy reforms, and funding models to ensure its long-term impact.

The programme, supported by the World Bank, Agence Française de Développement (AFD), and the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), has collectively invested $657 million, with an additional $72 million from AFD, in African higher education.