As part of its support towards development of science education in Africa, the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has been supporting a network of science institutions in Africa under the Nelson Mandela African Universities of Science and Technology Capacity Building Program.
The program was launched in 2012 and supports three universities – African University of Science and Technology (AUST) in Abuja (Nigeria), International Institute of Water and Environmental Engineering (2iE) in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) and the African Institute of Science and Technology (AIST) in Arusha (Tanzania).
For two consecutive years, the ACBF has awarded scholarships to students to pursue various courses at Masters and PhD levels at the AUST in Abuja.
For the 2015/16 academic year, ACBF awarded full scholarships to all 22 female students admitted at the University to pursue Master’s degree courses in Petroleum Engineering, Material Science, Computer Science, Pure and Applied Mathematics.
All the 22 female students graduated with flying colours much to the delight of the ACBF Executive Secretary, Prof. Emmanuel Nnadozie. “Now I am convinced more than ever that we will continue to support the program as long as we have resources,” he said at an ACBF dinner hosted to honour the students in Abuja, Nigeria.
The acute shortage of scientists in Africa led to the Foundation to focus on supporting female students in the Sciences.
The AUST held its 6th commencement ceremony for the 2015/2016 academic session on the 8th June 2016. The university graduated a total of 73 graduates from 9 African countries. 56 graduated with M.Sc. degrees and 17 with PhDs The graduates represented all 5 program areas – Computer Science, Material Science, Petroleum Engineering, Pure and Applied Mathematics, and Theoretical and Applied Physics.
