Programme On Innovation, Higher Education And Research For .

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Programme on Innovation, Higher Education andResearch for DevelopmentIHERDThis report is authored by James Otieno Jowi, Milton Obamba, Chika Sehoole, Goski Alabi, OgachiOanda and Maria Barifaijo as part of the Programme on Innovation, Higher Education and Researchfor Development (IHERD) hosted at the OECD and funded by the Swedish International DevelopmentCooperation Agency (Sida). The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein are those of theauthor and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the OECD or Sida or of the governments ofthe OECD member countries2

AcknowledgementsThis work is a result of the efforts by several people who had to put aside their busy schedules tomeet the demands of the short time of this project. I would like to sincerely appreciate the leadingroles that Prof. Chika Sehoole, Prof. Goski Alabi, Dr. Maria Barifaijo, Dr.Mathias Mulumba, Dr.MiltonObamba and Dr. Ibrahim Oanda put in coming up with the different sections of this document.Special thanks to Ms. Christiana Badoo for the information she provided in the compilation of theGhana chapter. In the same vein we thank Mr.Elisha Omoso for his usefulness in gatheringinformation for the study. We are also indebted to any other persons and offices that contributedtowards making this work a success. All this would not have been possible without the logisticalsupport of the staff in ANIE office. Lastly, I would like to appreciate OECD for providing us withfunding for this project. In this regard I want to sincerely thank Asa Olsson for all the support shegave.James Otieno JowiExecutive Director, ANIE3

Table of ContentsExecutive summary . 5Chapter 1 . 6Overview of Higher Education in AfricaIntroduction . 8Chapter 2 . 11Internationalisation, Research, Innovations and Management in Africas Higher Education:An Overview2.1Introduction . 112.2Higher Education in Africa: An overview . 122.3Knowledge deficits and research capacity gaps in African universities. 172.4Science, technology and innovation . 182.5Partnerships for knowledge and development . 242.6The changing landscape of Africa’s knowledge partnerships. 252.7Opportunities from internationalisation . 342.8Conclusions . 36Chapter 3 . 40Case study of Ghana3.1Introduction . 403.2Overview of the Economy of Ghana . 413.3The higher education system in Ghana . 433.4Research, knowledge production and innovation in Ghana . 473.5Role of Universities and Research Institutes in Innovation and National Development . 543.6Promoting Research and Innovation in Ghanaian Universities . 553.7The role of internationalisation . 593.8Future of research and innovation in Ghana Index. 62Chapter 4 . 67Case study of Kenya4.1Introduction . 674.2Trends and changes in policy and the roles of the university . 684.3The impacts of internationalisation . 984

4.4National Policy Landscape. 1004.5Institutional implications of internationalisation . 1034.6Conclusion . 107Chapter 5 . 112Case study of Uganda5.1Background to higher education in Uganda . 1125.2Higher education governance and policy . 1195.3Policy framework for research and knowledge creation . 1205.4Institutional environment for research and innovation . 1255.5University linkages with business/ industries . 1275.6Internationalisation and Higher Education in Uganda . 1285.7Conclusion . 1295

Executive summaryThe OECD has carried out a study on Governance of higher education, research and innovation inGhana, Kenya and Uganda as a part of the OECD programme on Higher Education and Research forDevelopment (IHERD), which is financed by the Swedish International Development CooperationAgency.The report consists of an overview of the higher education landscape in Africa and three casestudies on Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.The case studies of Ghana, Kenya and Uganda show that: Recent development policy frameworks and program initiatives in the three countriesdemonstrate a clear focus on the interconnectedness between STI (science technology, andinnovation) and development planning. However, the level of coherence within and amongthe existing policies, programs, and institutions still remains relatively weak. Policymakersrequire greater awareness and capacity building to ensure that national STI policies andprograms capture the national development priorities and are internally and externallyconsistent in order to promote policy complementarily, coherence, and effectiveness.Notwithstanding the increasing mainstreaming of STI at the national development policylevel, and despite the growing emphasis on the instrumentality of universities in promotingeconomic competitiveness and sustainable development, higher education institutionsacross the three countries remain poorly integrated into the emerging knowledge-baseddevelopment paradigm and discourse. Higher education institutions still lack the requiredvision, resources, capacity, and leadership to embrace science technology and innovation asa guiding principle for their strategic planning and academic programs. The disjointbetween national-level policies and institutional realities represent a devastating challengeto the realisation of knowledge-based economies in African countries. Senior leadershipwithin universities and research institutions therefore require skills and capacitystrengthening to be able to embed knowledge, enterprise, and innovation into their ownstrategic plans and research programs in order to discharge their mandate as catalysts ofdevelopment;The three countries demonstrate impressive but varying levels of sophistication withrespect to recent policy frameworks and governance arrangements for the management oftheir national research and innovation systems. Ghana and Kenya represent more elaborateand dynamic governance landscapes than Uganda; but all three countries clearlydemonstrate an unmistakeable emphasis on developing more effective nationalinstitutional arrangements and policies to promote research governance and nurtureknowledge economies. The key and most persistent weakness is the lack of national andinstitutional policies and programs that stimulate collaboration and knowledge exchangebetween research subsystems and the industrial and business subsystems.Inadequate and undiversified funding regimes remain a major challenge to the developmentof more vibrant research and innovation infrastructure in the three countries and across thesub-Saharan region. In the absence of private-sector funding and competitive grants, public6

universities and research institutes in the Sub-Saharan region predominantly depend ondwindling public subsidies as well as unpredictable international donor support. Thisnarrow funding base suggests that research and innovation systems in the three countriesface severe financial deficits and lack the capacity to formulate and drive their owndomestic research agendas. National policymakers and university leadership need to beencouraged to work in closer partnership and to prioritize the strategic importance ofresearch and innovation in national economic growth and competitiveness by investingmore significantly in strengthening research capacity, infrastructure, and researchopportunities in universities.The three country case studies demonstrate that internationalisation, particularly throughtransnational and transdisciplinary partnerships among universities; represent one of themost effective options for strengthening research capacity and governance arrangementsfor research and innovation in sub-Saharan countries.The studies demonstrate the need for systematic and coherent approaches to integratingSTI Policy into national economic and development strategy. This embedding processshould accord particular emphasis on the coherent translation and cascading of nationaldevelopment goals and STI policies into clear action plans and intervention programs thatare directly connected to promoting economic growth and improving people’s reallivelihoods.7

Chapter 1James Otieno Jowi, African Network for Internationalisation of Education (ANIE)Overview of higher education in AfricaIntroductionUniversities in Africa have always been thought of in terms of their role in development. The idea of‘development universities’ (Cloete et. al., 2011) underlined the role of universities in developmentto meet the human resource needs of the economy. According to Varghese (2013) the state andpublic sector institutions were central to the development strategy of the newly independentcountries in Africa. This model was replicated in education. Higher education was provided throughpublic universities. The decades of 1960s and 1970s saw the establishment of new universities inAfrican countries. Further, public universities in these countries also “symbolized national prideand self-respect” (Coleman and Court, 1993) and self reliance. Under this frame of analysis, theexpansion of higher education served both political and economic aspirations of the newlyindependent governments. Hence, the governments were willing to allocate resources and invest inhigher education.Despite the weakening of the sector in the 1980s as a result of redirection of resources away fromuniversities to primary education, the university sector managed to regain its central role indevelopment at the dawn of the 21stcentury. Since then, the sector has expanded tremendously inthe past few years in the number and diversity of institutions, student numbers, in the emergenceof new actors and the consequences of global dynamics. In recent years, the higher education sectorin Africa has attracted attention from stakeholders, both internal and external, often due to thisrecognition of the important role of higher education in Africa’s transformation (Bloom et al.,2005). However, Africa’s higher education still faces numerous challenges: funding, access, qualityconcerns, institutional capacities, weak research base and governance.At the same time, several dramatic and even revolutionary changes have taken place inhigher education globally (Altbach, Reisberg & Rumbley, 2010) also impacting on isthegrowingimpactof