1. AFRICA CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT IMPACT (ACE Impact)
Djibouti Workshop – Experts Meeting
February 18, 2019

2. Outline Lessons- ACE I ACE Impact Project Overview Objectives
Project Components (features, activities, results, indicators)
Implementation arrangements
Status
Timeline

3. ACE 1 - Lessons Learned Prior institutional and ministerial buy-in
Regional engagement
Institutional impact
Sector engagement and upfront commitment
Sectoral Advisory Board
Networking and Partnerships
Gender
Plan for sustainability

4. The Africa Centers of Excellence (ACE) Program
To support excellence in postgraduate education and research
Train MS and PhD students to address the Skills Gap
Provide midcareer Short Courses
Applied Research
Focus on addressing Development Challenges
Regional Focus enables Portfolio of distributed excellence
Partnering:
Sectoral Stakeholders, Sectoral Advisory Board
Global Excellence, Academic Institutions
Government Ownership
Sustainability

5. Objective of the ACE Impact Project
To increase quantity, quality and development relevance of post-graduate education in selected universities through regional specialization
Increase the number of enrolled students (ultimately graduates) in post-graduate programs (Master’s, PhDs)
Enhance the quality of post-graduate programs such that students acquire the necessary theoretical knowledge and applied skills upon graduating
Improve development Impact such that the knowledge and skills acquired by graduates are closely linked to development challenges

6. Fostering regional partnerships and scholarships
Components
Component 1
Component 2
Component 3
Establishing new and scaling-up well-performing existing ACEs for development impact
Fostering regional partnerships and scholarships
Enhancing regional project facilitation, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E)
Sub-component 1.1
Support to establish new centers of excellence.
Sub-component 1.2
Support to scale-up well performing ACE I centers 
 Sub-component 2.1
Support to emerging centers (non- ACEs) for networking, regional technical assistance and improving learning environment
Sub-component 2.2
Support for PhD scholarships through the PASET Regional Scholarship & Innovation Fund
Sub-component 3.1
Support for project facilitation and M&E at the Regional level; 
Sub-component 3.2
Support for national level coordination (Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria)
Additional support to the best engineering and technology ACE institutions hosting sub-components 1.1 , 1.2 and 2.1 ACEs

7. New Centers (Component 1.1)
Deliver top quality postgraduate education (skills) and applied research to address regional development challenges, attractive to regional students, faculty, industry and international partners.
Key Activities to be funded
Features
Equipment purchase & buildings
Faculty training
Partnerships & industry outreach
Institutional improvement
Program redesign and accreditation
Increasing enrollment and retention of female students/faculty
Scholarships for students
On-line learning courses
Project management
Disbursement of funds to centers are linked to results achieved (DLIs).
26 new centers will be competitively selected
~ Half will be in pre-identified priority sectors
~ US$ 4-8 million per center
Potential to become a regional hub in the ACE’s specialized area
Renewals should have been successful in providing quality and research important in addressing development challenges
Not all money will be given to center upfront. Full amount will be accessed at mid term to decide who gets full term

8. Pre-Identified Priority Areas for ACE Impact
Broad Themes
Sectors
Applied Sciences, Engineering, Technology
Energy (power)
Information and Communications Technology (Big Data)
Health
Nursing and Professional health trainers
Education
Education – STEM / Excellence in teacher training
Environment
Environment - Costal Resilience
Environmental science and applied Impact assessment
Urbanization and Transport
Transport – logistics (policies, economics, urban planning, traffic management, ICT etc.)
Urban Planning and Design
Others
Quantitative Economics
Strongly linked to demand expressed by stakeholders working in the region
Terms of reference have been drafted for the different sectors highlighting the skills and applied research gaps
Further consultations will be held with relevant industry/sectoral leaders
The best proposal within the priority will be selected
Around half of the centers selected could be in targeted areas (max. 10 priority challenges)

9. New Centers: Proposed Results & Indicators
Focus of improvement:
International quality post-graduate education
Increased enrollment and better retention of women
Targeted research in response to development challenges
Much stronger Industry engagement
Increased strategic/ functional regional and international partnerships
Strengthened Institutional-level Impact
Improved attention to student affairs
Sustainable (revenue generation)
Funding linked to results (DLRs):
No. of newly enrolled postgraduate students
No. of ACE related research publications
Amt. in externally generated revenue
No. of newly accredited programs
New facilities/equipment
No. of faculty and students in internships
Institutional impact (governance and regionalization)
Fiduciary (timeliness and transparency)

10. Renewals of existing ACEs (Component 1.2)
Support well performing ACEs to scale up delivery of top quality postgraduate education (skills) and applied research to address regional development challenges, attractive to regional students, faculty, industry and international partners.
Activities to be funded
Features
Equipment purchase & buildings (less compared to 1.1)
Partnerships & Industry outreach
Institutional improvement
Program redesign and accreditation
Scholarships for students
Increasing enrollment and retention of female students/faculty
On-line learning courses
Project management
Disbursement of funds to centers are linked to results achieved (DLIs).
18 of the top performing centers will be competitively selected
US$ 2-6 million per center (based on discipline)
Be ready to be a regional hub in the ACE’s specialized area
Renewals should have been successful in providing quality and research important in addressing development challenges
Not all money will be given to center upfront. Full amount will be accessed at mid term to decide who gets full term

11. Renewals: Proposed Results & Indicators
Focus of improvement: Similar to current ACE I but more emphasis on:
Scale up postgraduate education
Much stronger industry partners
Strengthened Institutional-level Impact
Professionalize regionalization
Accreditation
Increased enrollment and better retention of women
Sustainability
Funding linked to results (DLRs):
Similar to the DLRs for the new centers (component 1.1), covering:
Enrollment
Research publication
Accreditation of programs
Civil works and equipment (purchased, installed, in-use)
Internships, externally generated revenue
Institutional impact
Greater funding weight on institutional impact, regional networking and industry/sectoral engagement

12. Emerging Centers/Programs (Component 2.1)
Provide targeted support to higher education institutions to build national undergraduate and postgraduate education and research capacity in thematic areas of regional need.
Features
Activities to be funded
Some disbursement of funds to programs are linked to results achieved (DLIs).
5 of well written proposals will be accepted
Eligible countries: Small or fragile, no existing ACEs and has low capacity in the proposed thematic area (Djibouti, Niger, Guinea, Gambia)
US$ 5-7 million per center (based on discipline)
Programs that are not yet mature enough to be competitive under Component 1
Equipment purchase & buildings
Regional partnership activities with Component 1 ACE Impact, ACE I and ACE II centers
Institutional improvement
Industry outreach
Faculty training
Program redesign and development (education/research) and accreditation
Scholarships for students
Renewals should have been successful in providing quality and research important in addressing development challenges
Not all money will be given to center upfront. Full amount will be accessed at mid term to decide who gets full term
Will purchase technical assistance (TA) from stronger ACEs in the region (~30% of total funding)

13. Emerging Centers/Programs : Proposed Results & Indicators
Funding linked to results (DLRs):
No. of newly enrolled students
No. of newly developed or revamped programs
No. of newly accredited programs
New facilities/equipment completed
No. of faculty and students in internships
Institutional impact (governance and regionalization)
Fiduciary management (timeliness and transparency)
Focus of improvement:
Strengthened undergraduate and postgraduate education & research capacity (facilities and faculty)
Stronger alignment with industry needs
Strengthened Institutional-level Impact
Targeted regional networks
Accreditation
Increased enrollment and better retention of women
Sustainability

14. College of Engineering/Technology Additional Funding
Eligibility: Those institutions that have been selected for at least one engineering/technology ACE Impact Center
3-7 awards anticipated
Institution-wide strengthening of the engineering and technology programs within a College of Engineering
Scale-up of enrollment
Achieving international quality standards
Introducing new academic programs
Promoting project-based learning and innovative pedagogy
Establishing new laboratories
Enabling Technology Transfer and business/entrepreneurship
Building linkages to business programs
Enhancing teaching and research capacity
Promoting institutional transformation in terms of policies and operations

15. PASET - RSIF (Component 2.2 - Optional)
Contributes to regional public goods in the domain of creation of applied scientific and technical knowledge relevant to transformative technologies that can help to address critical and common development challenges as well as boost private sector productivity.
Contributors
Countries can opt to use IDA credit to contribute to the fund ($ 2 million) and leverage an equivalent amount in regional credit)
RSIF will operate through a General Fund and an Endowment (permanent) Fund
Has 3 windows:
Scholarships for PhD students
Research grants for scholars who have completed PhDs and for faculty engaged in doctoral training
Innovation grants for faculty, scholars and researchers
African governments; 5 countries have committed, of which two have transferred funds. Another 5 countries have made commitments in principle.
Countries with firm commitments by heads of state: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. Kenya and Rwanda have transferred funds
Donors. Korea has made a commitment of $ 10 million to the RSIF for PhD grants and research grants.
Private sector. Discussions are ongoing with Phillips, Intel, Samsung, Alibaba and others
Renewals should have been successful in providing quality and research important in addressing development challenges
Not all money will be given to center upfront. Full amount will be accessed at mid term to decide who gets full term

16. PASET – RSIF: Advantages
High level of technical assistance from the Bank and RSIF’s Consultative and Advisory Committee. Country can also benefit from funds mobilized from other donors/private sector.
Countries will be represented on the PASET Board and Executive Committee and hence will help to shape this important regional initiative.
80 percent of the country’s contributions will go to fund national students who can enter high-quality programs in PASET RSIF host universities, provided they meet the admission/selection criteria. The remaining 20% is for other SSA students.
Merit-based selection of students and economies of scale
Professional management of scholarships
PASET RSIF host universities are competitively selected and they are partnered with international universities.
A long term initiative and countries will continue to benefit according to their contributions and in proportion to the returns from the endowment fund.
Spillover benefits for the countries’ universities and higher education system, as they learn about an international level program, and as faculty and students are trained.
Benefits from other initiative of PASET, such as knowledge-sharing with Korea, China, India, etc., and technical assistance.
Renewals should have been successful in providing quality and research important in addressing development challenges
Not all money will be given to center upfront. Full amount will be accessed at mid term to decide who gets full term

17. ACE Impact Implementation Arrangements
Overall guidance and oversight for the project
ACE Steering Committee (Ministerial & Representative levels)
Semi-annual review
Implementation support
National Government
M&E, verification, capacity building and logistics
Coordinate work with partners
Regional facilitation services (AAU)
Implements own proposal
ACEs/ Universities
Ministerial meeting, once a year at the rep level. Unless told otherwise, the PSC member from the ACE 1 will continue
Clear separation of discussions/decisions.

18. Status of ACE Impact Phase I – PROGRESS!
Entities/Countries: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Ghana, Guinea, Senegal and AAU
16 (6 renewals) ACEs; 2 Emerging Centers and 3 Colleges of Engineering
2 National Facilitation Agencies (NCTE (Ghana) and MERSRI-PIU (Burkina Faso))
1 Regional Facilitation Unit (AAU)
All Safeguards and Fiduciary requirements completed
All Negotiations meetings completed
Burkina Faso, Ghana and Senegal are contributing $2 Million each to RSIF
Process initiated for the hiring of the new ACE Impact Project Manager

19. Status of ACE Impact Phase II …following Phase I approval
Countries: Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, Nigeria, The Gambia, Togo
28 (12 renewals) ACEs; 3 Emerging Centers and 3-6 Colleges of Engineering
1 National Facilitation Agency (NUC- Nigeria)
Experts have been assigned to the Centers
Fiduciary assessments of Centers need to be completed
Draft ESMFs (safeguards document) yet to be consulted on in-country, finalized and disclosed
Technical discussions and Negotiations to be completed.

20. Next Steps Verification Entity Allocated Amount Action Date
1. Governments share draft Performance and Funding Agreement with World Bank for legal review
Mar. 1, 2019
2. Submission of ACE Impact I to World Bank Board for approval
Mar. 4, 2019
3. National Workshops Period: National Government feedback on draft Procurement Manuals (PM), Financial Management (FM) Manuals and Implementation Plans (IP)
Mar. 4-31, 2019
4. Legal review of Performance and Funding Agreement completed and shared with governments
Mar. 15, 2019
5. Revised version of IP, fiduciary manuals submitted to AAU for review/approval
Mar. 22, 2019
6. AAU notifies each Center on IP, manuals (PM, FM) and Safeguards approval, or request for additional work
Apr. 12, 2019
7. Anticipated signing of Financing Agreements for Phase 1 countries by World Bank and Governments. Governments of Burkina, Ghana and Senegal and Icipe sign RSIF Subsidiary Agreements
Apr. 14, 2019
8. Performance and Funding Agreement signing between governments and the Centers
By Apr. 30, 2019
Verification Entity
Add board approval; endorsement of operational manual
Allocated Amount

21. Next Steps Verification Entity Allocated Amount Action Date
9. Submission by Centers of all ACE Impact documents not yet approved (manuals and Implementation Plan
Apr. 30, 2019
10. All Centers submit results for DLI 1 (Basic and Full readiness) to AAU for verification
May 1, 2019
11. All Centers’ IP, manuals (PM, FM) have been approved and returned to the Centers by AAU
May 15, 2019
12. Flow of funds are operational (Opening of accounts for Centers and national facilitation agencies), access to WB client connection (WB on-line disbursement portal), Authorized signatures etc.)
Jul. 1, 2019
13. Project Effectiveness (all conditions in the Financing Agreement met and in some cases, cabinet or parliament approval needed) – 90 days after signing
Jul. 15, 2019
14. Next Regional Workshop
Sep. 2019
15. The World Bank Management will communicate on timelines for ACE Impact II in April 2019
Verification Entity
Allocated Amount

22. Questions, Comments, Feedback?