1.1 Brief Welcome Note by Prof. Matthew Luhanga, Vice Chancellor, UDSM 
 

The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Vice Chancellor, Prof. Matthew Luhanga started by welcoming, on behalf of the UDSM and on his own behalf, all the delegates to the 6th Conference of Rectors, Vice Chancellors and Presidents of African Universities (COREVIP'99). He said that he hoped the delegates would find the conference and the chance availed by the Association of African Universities, a useful experience which would also make them get to know Tanzania. 
 

The VC then went on to give background information regarding the preparations of the conference, by briefly explaining about AAU. He informed that the AAU, an African regional, non-governmental organization was formed in November 1967 and that it was charged with enhancing and developing inter-university cooperation and networking in the continent of Africa. He further informed that out of the 5th COREVIP'97 held in Lusaka, Zambia, it had been decided that similar meetings be held biennially. He said that he hoped that delegates would confirm how the choice to have Tanzania and UDSM in particular host this year's meeting was well-founded. 
 

Hailing the presence of so many delegates from so many different African countries and international organizations, Prof. Luhanga submitted that this was indicative of the recognition of the importance given to COREVIP'99. 
 

The VC then went on to thank the AAU and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania for the opportunity availed by the former to all delegates to participate in the conference, and for the support and material contribution from the latter as exemplified by the presence of HE President Mkapa. He thanked also the Arusha Regional administration for their cooperation in making the COREVIP'99 materialize. 
 

He explained that Arusha is not only the capital of the East African cooperation and that it is not only a tourist attraction but also that it is actually the middle point between Cape and Cairo in which case, COREVIP was actually being held in the middle of Africa. 
 

After the short welcome remarks, the UDSM VC invited the Conference Chairman and President of the AAU to give his brief welcoming statement and to welcome the Guest of Honour, HE Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT), to deliver the formal opening address. (For the full version of the UDSM VC's remarks see Appendix I) 
 
 

1.2 Welcome Speech to H.E. The President of URT, by Prof. Andrew Siwela, AAU President 
 

Prof. Andrew Siwela began his welcome speech by saying that the participants and delegates to the conference consider it a great honour and privilege to have the President officiate the opening of COREVIP 99, and that the honour indicated that the Government and the President recognized the importance of higher education in Africa. 
 

Explaining that COREVIP'99 was a follow-up to an earlier meeting held in Lusaka, Prof. Siwela submitted that the conference was, thus, going to review and assess progress made since the Lusaka meeting. He explained that the conference would review the Association's constitution while focussing on its main theme of revitalisation of the African Universities in the wake of the new millennium. This, he said, was an ample opportunity to review the role of universities in economic, political and socio-cultural development of the African countries. He charged that the issues of quality, relevance and equity plus international cooperation would be given due attention during the deliberations 
 

The AAU President thanked the UDSM Vice Chancellor and the Local Organising Committee for a job well done so far. Then he expressed sincere gratitude to the President of the URT and to the Government of Tanzania for the support. He then invited the President of Tanzania, HE Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa, to deliver his opening address and to formally declare the conference open. (For the full text of the AAU President's Welcome Speech see Appendix II) 
 

1.3 Formal Opening Address by H.E. Mr. Benjamin William Mkapa, President of the URT 
 

His Excellence, The President of the URT started by thanking the conference organizers for giving him the opportunity to officiate the opening ceremony of what he termed "the historic meeting of intellectuals of its kind to be held in the country." 
 

The President submitted that on learning of the decision to request Tanzania to host the conference he had accepted to officiate its opening based on his recognition of the importance of higher, especially university-level, education in the development of Africa in the wake of the new millennium. He, thus, thanked the AAU for giving Tanzania the privilege of hosting the conference; and the organizing committees at AAU and UDSM for their excellent preparations for the conference. He also thanked all the institutions (private and public) for offering their help to make the conference realisable. 
 

The President then said that he hoped that most of the delegates would have by then been well-informed of the variety of tourist attractions which Tanzania is capable of offering. He urged the delegates to take the opportunity to take some time off to see what Tanzania can offer in her National Parks and game reserves. He even urged the delegates to consider climbing Mountain Kilimanjaro as the peak to their exploration of Tanzania. 
 

Turning to the theme of the conference, i.e. "Revitalizing Universities in Africa: Strategies for the 21st Century," the President submitted that even after having served in different capacities of his political career as a policy maker in matters of science, technology and higher education at national level, he would not pretend to spell out which strategies African Universities should adopt in the wake of the 21st century. For that matter then, the President stated that lesson one must necessarily be that of forging a new partnership between African Governments and African Universities in the coming century. 
 

The President then said that he would take a few minutes to draw the attention of the delegates to some important developments and world wide trends which may have a bearing on the future of higher education in Africa. He reiterated that new and more stringent strategies were needed for managing African Universities. He insisted that alongside these strategies, quality improvement and high standards of performance should be seen as the key. The president maintained that the main question should be how and to what extent African Universities are prepared in terms of eventual maintenance of quality and standards. As one of the strategies, the President suggested that African universities should start by assessing the extent of their preparedness vis a vis mobilization so as to ensure the institutions survive in the face of global competition in higher education. 
 

The President cautioned, however, that globalising, i.e. producing graduates who meet global standards, should not be at the expense of the role of the universities in Africa to produce men and women who would help in bringing about change and development in our own countries and our own continent. 
 

The President then highlighted the second most important issue as that of capacity building. He emphasized the fact that in this mission, African Governments and African Universities have to seek to build a local capacity for quality, relevant and egalitarian university education while increasingly reducing their dependence on external assistance. The President argued that such joint efforts between African Governments and African Universities, and between such universities and the private sector at national and sub-regional levels, should also seek to enhance our academic and research capacity in science and technology. 
 

Regarding the challenges of dwindling resources available to public universities, especially in Africa, the President dwelt on the ways of increasing efficiency and reiterated the fact that African universities need to transform the approach and manner in which they deliver their outputs. This, he said, would bring about effective use of the limited resources availed by the relevant governments. The president challenged the African universities to supplement government efforts by self generated income academic-related activities. He urged the community, especially the private sector, to contribute in the form of scholarships and endowment funds as well as shared costs. The President underlined the necessity to sensitize all stakeholders, including parents and the students themselves, on the imperative to share the costs of education. 
 
 

Still on the issue of cost sharing, the President lauded the necessity for regional co-operation as a good mechanism for sharing costs in higher education, research and development and in extension services for greater benefit. In this regard, the President urged African universities to complement rather than compete against each other. 
 

Observing that the existence and success of any university rested on the relevance of its curricula and research activities, the President argued that no African government would be ready to fund a university whose curricula and research activities were irrelevant to the development of a given nation, region or sub-region. He urged the delegates to include the issue of relevance to development as a major theme in charting future strategies since such relevance would actually determine whether a government increases or decreases its funding to a public university. 
 

The President then turned to the issue of how quality and relevance of lower levels of education invariably affect the higher levels. He insisted that Africa must evolve a more dynamic, managerial and curriculum enriching interaction between all the different levels of education. The President singled out the importance of capacity building in the sciences at lower levels, including among girls and disadvantaged groups. He observed that improving gender balance is a challenge to institutions of higher learning in Africa so that ultimately, the matriculation of female students in our universities is increased. 
 

Still on science and technology, the President cautioned that much as the 21st century education was going to be science and technology-based, computers must not be allowed to replace developed, cultured, and sharpened brains and minds. The President further cautioned against elitism and desire for white collar jobs from among those who graduate from African Universities. He challenged the African Universities to produce graduates with a continued desire to serve and to learn. 
 

Touching on the question of our African heritage, the President expressed his dismay at the fact that African scholars were still obliged to go abroad to have an in-depth scholarly studies on Africa. He challenged the delegates to reverse the trend so that African scholars have more interest and pride in their ancestry, heritage, culture and their own way of life. 
 

Insisting that Africa must choose whether to enter the next millennium as a victim or a fighter, proactive or reactive, the President emphasized that our education for the 21st century must produce confident people who have relevant knowledge and abilities to help themselves and to help their societies. 
 

Voicing a concern about the increasing wealth and knowledge gaps between industrialised or industrialising countries and the developing countries, the President stressed the fact that the latter gaps are the worst and most threatening. He urged the African universities to sensitise and help governments and people to understand the seriousness and consequences of the ever-increasing knowledge gap; and by so doing, narrow it in the context of competing demands and scarce resources and declining foreign aid. 
 

Insisting that Africa must not try to reinvent the wheel, the President advised the developing countries to acquire, absorb, apply and communicate new scientific and technological knowledge. He cited the example of the African Virtual University in Nairobi which uses distance learning as a good example of innovativeness. 
 

The President of the URT concluded his opening speech by asking the delegates to be farsighted and to prepare well for the world ahead. He wished its deliberations all the best, and then, declared the COREVIP'99 formally open.(For the full version of the Formal Opening Address see Appendix III) 
 
 

1.4 Vote of Thanks to H.E. The President of the URT by Dr. Dorothy L. Njeuma, Vice Chancellor, University of Buea, Cameroon 
 

In her vote of thanks, Dr. Njeuma, on behalf of AAU and the participating delegates, said that it is her honour and privilege to thank the President, and the people of Tanzania for facilitating the conference. She said that she is grateful that the President had found some time in his busy schedule to come and officiate the opening of the conference. This gesture, she submitted, was enough testimony of his support for higher education in Africa, especially as regards the issues of its relevance, equity and quality.. 
 

Dr. Njeuma requested the President to convince his peers at the OAU about the need for African Universities to enter the 21st century in a manner expressed in his speech. 
 

The speaker ended her vote of thanks by once again thanking the President for the ideas and challenges raised in his opening speech. She promised that the conference would be guided by those challenges and ideas. (The full version of the Vote of Thanks is available as Appendix IV).