AfDB invested $96m in higher education, others - Adesina

The President, African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said that the bank invested $96m in its Higher Education and Science and Technology project.

Adesina said this while delivering an acceptance speech after receiving an honorary Doctor of Letters (Honoris Causa) conferred on him by the Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

A statement issued on Monday said that the award was in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science, research and academic leadership; reforms and thought leadership as well as significant contributions to Africa’s social and economic development.

The bank’s HEST project focused on three major areas which were supporting centres of excellence, ensuring infrastructure and training in specific areas. It stated that the areas included agriculture and livestock, health sciences and health delivery support services, engineering, business enterprise, training teachers and educational management.

The project also focused on strengthening links with the labour market so that trained students could use their knowledge and skills productively. Adesina said, “The African Development Bank is proud to have invested $96m in the Higher Education and Science and Technology project which ended in 2019.

“Our support of $26m to Makerere University helped to construct two central teaching facilities, a four-storey building with fully equipped lecture and seminar rooms and a five-story building with an auditorium with capacity for 1,000 seats at a time.

“We also supported the construction of modern diagnostic laboratory equipment, a biotechnology laboratory worth $1m, a geographic information systems laboratory and a computer laboratory.”

The AfDB president said that for Africa to make significant progress, there should be equal opportunities for both men and women. In his address, the Chancellor, Makerere University, Prof. Ezra Suruma, commended the AfDB president for his excellent leadership in piloting the affairs of the bank.