1. Technical and Advisory Meeting for Center Leaders of African Centers of Excellence
“Achieving Sustainable Development through Transformation of Higher Education in Eastern and Southern Africa”
DAY ONE RECAP
Nairobi, Kenya
October

2. Survey of ACE Leaders on Workshop Expectations
Project preparatory phase
Roadmap for reaching effectiveness
Project design and implementation
DLI/DLR, results verification, partnership formation, reporting mechanisms
Project financing
Mechanisms for disbursement of funds
Communication
Harmonization of communication channels and dissemination of output
Monitoring and evaluation strategies

3. Workshop Objectives To review readiness for implementation
discuss emerging challenges and
propose solutions/recommendations
To provide a platform for networking amongst the ACEs
particularly on partnerships and
capacity building
To discuss project operations procedures
To learn from ACE I experiences

4. Overall Structure of Day 1
Welcome statements and introductions
RSC (Kenya), IUCEA, WB
Overview of the workshop (IUCEA and WB)
Progress and expectations
Overview of project design
Breakout sessions
Major challenges faced

5. The Conference
Goal is to officially launch the ACE II project, and through an open dialogue ensure that all ACEs and participating countries reach effectiveness as soon as possible
Provides an opportunity for the 24 ACEs to engage in an open dialogue and discussions with peers, experts and RSC members on fundamentals for development of robust and sustainable higher education centers of excellence

6. Key Project Milestones
Selection of IUCEA as RFU
Call for Proposals
2-step evaluation process by IEC
Conditional selection by RSC of 24 proposals to be ACEs
Assessments of selected ACEs – financial management, procurement, safeguards
Approval of the 24 ACEs by WB Board (May )
NB:
ACEs reached this stage, not by chance, but through a very rigorous process of selection

7. Progress in Effectiveness
Achieved by Ethiopia, Rwanda, and RFU
Kenya and Mozambique have made good progress
Zambia and Uganda have not signed the financing agreement with the WB
Emphasized need to move faster, as there will be no extension at the end of project
“If we lose time at the beginning, we will not be given more time to implement the project.”

8. 1. Provide high quality doctoral training
Need to have a clear understanding of the overall philosophy of the project
Purpose of the ACEs is to raise the level of teaching and research in your specialized areas:
1. Provide high quality doctoral training
with a deliberate effort to recruit women
build a pipeline for doctoral training i.e. masters
2. Produce a critical mass of researchers
treat this as an applied research project
Encourage postdoctoral training to build a cadre of independent researchers

9. ACE II Financing Arrangement
(3 Components)
US$ 140 million
US$ 3 million
US$ 5 million
strengthening the 24 higher education institutions into regional ACEs in Eastern and Southern Africa in a set of defined regional priority areas
providing capacity building support to these ACEs through regional activities
supporting coordination and management of the implementation of components (i) and (ii)

10. The ACE II financing model is NOT conventional/traditional….
Financial Audit
Develop project/
proposal with budget
Obtain funding
Undertake/implement proposed activities
Prepare technical report
Prepare financial report
Evaluation/ Review
Focuses on financing inputs
Risk lies with funder

11. Results-Based Financing Model for ACEs (Component 1)
Disbursement Linked Indicator (DLI) 1… 2… 3… 4…
Disbursement Linked Result (DLR)
1.1…
1.2…
2.1…
2.2…
Disbursement Amount 1… 2… 3… 4…
Action Achieved
Verification/Validation
Next DLI

12. DLI = 4 DLR = 16 (2+8+4+2) US$ DLI #1: Institutional readiness
DLR#1.1: Completion of Effectiveness Conditions
DLR#1.2: Development of the Project Implementation Plan
1,100,000
DLI #2: Excellence in education and research capacity and development impact
DLR# 2.1: Timely annual implementation of the plans
for this DLR in that year, i.e., US$100,000
DLR #2.2: Newly enrolled students in the ACE of which at least 20% must be regional (African) students
DLR#2.3: Accreditation of quality of education programs
DLR#2.4: Partnerships for collaboration in applied research and training
DLR#2.5: Peer-reviewed journal papers or peer-reviewed conference papers prepared collaboratively with national, regional or international co-authors
DLR#2.6: Faculty and PhD student exchanges to promote regional research and teaching collaborations
DLR#2.7: External revenue generation
DLR#2.8: Institution participating in benchmarking exercise
4,300,000
DLI#3: Timely, transparent and institutionally reviewed Financial Management
DLR#3.1: Timely Withdrawal applications supported by interim unaudited financial reports for each ACE
DLR#3.2: Functioning audit committee under each Eastern and Southern African Higher Education Institutions. For ACEs in Ethiopia, the current government regulation does not have the provision of such an audit committee
DLR#3.3: Functioning internal audit unit for each Eastern and Southern African Higher Education Institution
DLR#3.4: Transparency of financial management (audit reports, interim unaudited financial reports, budgets and Annual Work Programs are all web accessible).
300,000
DLI#4:Timely and audited Procurement
DLR# 4.1: Timely procurement audit report for each ACE
DLR#4.2: Timely and satisfactory procurement progress report for each ACE
300,000

13. DLI #2 is Core Excellence in Education and Research Capacity and Development Impact
DLR #2.2: Newly enrolled students in the ACE of which at least 20% must be regional (African) students
DLR#2.3: Accreditation of quality of education programs
DLR#2.4: Partnerships for collaboration in applied research and training (15% of project funding)
DLR#2.5: Peer-reviewed journal papers or peer-reviewed conference papers prepared collaboratively with national, regional or international co-authors
DLR#2.6: Faculty and PhD student exchanges to promote regional research and teaching collaborations
DLR#2.7: External revenue generation
DLR#2.8: Institution participating in benchmarking exercise

14. Everything must be geared toward achievement of the Project Development Objective (PDO)
To strengthen selected Eastern and Southern African higher education institutions to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the regional priority areas

15. Issues from Discussions
True meaning of regionality
Role of NSC, and its relationship with RSC
reviews and approves the overall work programme
Fate of the 6 or so proposals that were not funded among the 24
possibility of financing them in the future
Conflict resolution mechanisms
e.g. on verification of DLRs
Eligible expenditures

16. Note Project responds to the needs of regional development priorities
Regional approach is a complement to national initiatives
Results-based financing employed in disbursement
Need for collaboration/synergy with ACE I
There are key lessons to be learnt from ACE I implementation
Key project documents available for reference
PAD, POM, Brochure, Communications Strategy, etc

17. Breakout Sessions
What are the challenges and what are the solutions i.e. what can we do to address these challenges?

18. Further Input…