7.1 Recommendations from the Opening Speech 
 

There is a need for constant reviews of the role of universities in economic, political and socio-cultural development of the African countries. Such reviews should consider issues of quality, relevance and equity plus international cooperation. 
 

There is an urgent need of forging a new partnership between African Governments and African Universities in the coming century. 
 

While new and more stringent strategies are needed for managing African Universities, alongside these strategies, quality improvement and high standards of performance should be seen as the key. 
 

Globalizing, 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. 
 

African Governments and African Universities must seek to build a local capacity for quality, relevant and egalitarian university education while increasingly reducing their dependence on external assistance. 
 

There must be joint efforts between African Governments and African Universities, and between such universities and the private sector at national and sub-regional levels in seeking to enhance our academic and research capacity in science and technology. 
 

African universities must supplement government efforts by self generated income academic-related activities. In this, there is a 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. 
 

African universities' curricula and research activities must be relevant to the development of a given nation, region or sub-region. Such relevance would actually determine whether a government increases or decreases its funding to a public university. 
 

Africa must evolve a more dynamic, managerial and curriculum enriching interaction between all the different levels of education. 
 

There is a need for capacity building in the sciences at lower levels, including among girls and disadvantaged groups. 
 

African universities must strive towards gender balance, which is a challenge to institutions of higher learning in Africa, so that ultimately, the matriculation of female students in our universities is increased. 
 

Science and technology-based education must not be allowed to replace developed, cultured, and sharpened brains and minds. 
 

African universities must sensitise and help governments and people to understand the seriousness and consequences of the ever-increasing knowledge gap between industrialised or industrialising countries and the developing countries. 
 

African universities must acquire, absorb, apply and communicate new scientific and technological knowledge. 
 

7.2 Recommendations on the Quality, Access, and Capacity Building for Higher Education in Africa 
 

There is a need to develop appropriate strategies, including stock-taking and evaluations, to resolve the crisis of deteriorating quality of teaching and research as African universities enter the 21st century. 
 

African universities should concentrate on capacity building especially as regards the weak internal management capacity within themselves. It is important to have a holistic approach to the problem of the revitalisation of the African universities. 
 

The problems of access to higher education should be addressed alongside the role of the private sector and participatory approach to the issue of revitalizing higher education in Africa; the need for partnership (bilateral or otherwise) and the assistance from outside; capacity for monitoring evaluation processes so as to ensure the successes of the programmes; and human resource development. 
 

National sovereignties must be maintained in any collaborations, be they sub-regional, regional or international. 

It is important to create a critical mass of qualified human power, and maintaining a strong holistic approach to the problems that African Universities face. For example, the private sector and the civil society must work hand in hand to develop the African universities, and to develop regional bodies of higher education. This would, in turn, ensure that there is diversification in the educational delivery system 
 

African universities must ensure that all African countries guarantee the peoples' right to higher education which would, in turn ensure development. 
 

It is important that African universities produce highly qualified graduates to meet the needs of the societies in the present and the future and in the context of cultural plurality. These call for ethic, scientific and intellectual rigour. 
 

Student needs must be placed at the centre when dealing with quality enhancement so that, for example, the need to offer a wide variety of courses is effectively dealt with. 
 

There is a need for qualitative evaluation which would go hand in hand with the recognition of potentials and challenges of technology. 
 

Although international relations are highly encouraged, the issue of brain drain in Africa which robs African countries of their experts who would contribute a lot in the development of their countries should be seriously examined and redressed. 
 

Partnerships and alliances should be developed among stakeholders, students, administrators, community groups and NGOs, and such partnerships should be based on mutual respect and common needs. 
 

National teams should be formed, which would critically examine the role of African universities using a holistic approach. 
 

African universities should formulate a framework which would work towards a follow-up of all global conferences and ensure that the resolutions are adhered to in the participating countries. 
 

There is a need to revamp research capacities and to link research, policy and practice. 
 

African universities should rethink the AAU and see how we can restate its mission and vision in the context of the 21st century. 
 

The dependency on donor funds should be reversed by identifying other sources of sustainable income for African universities. 
 

African governments and universities must work towards developing capacity and mechanism for self evaluation, respect for university autonomy, provision of performance incentives and sanctions for staff and students, improving remuneration of staff, improving physical facilities and infrastructure establishment of external quality assurance bodies, and development of mission statements and undertaking of strategic planning 
 

There is a need to provide the type of education that enhances national and individual character building; to prepare students for world citizenship; to integrate knowledge and skills; and to adopt Information Communication Technology (ICT). 
 

In order to save costs, some training could be decentralized among African universities. 
 

Training programs should be set up for university senior administrators such as deans, but such training should be based on a survey conducted by the AAU Secretariat to ascertain the needs of members for leadership training. 
 

7.3 Recommendations on Gender Issues in African Universities 
 

Here is a need to identify the ways and areas in which women should feature in the African universities' revitalisation programmes so as to increase the access of such women to higher education. 
 

All the factors influencing women's access, persistence and achievement in universities should be identified and dealt with accordingly. 
 

Recruitment for managerial positions in the African universities should be democratic enough to give equal opportunities to all who merit - including women. 
 

It is important and necessary to create opportunities for all countries and groups within each country, especially the marginalised groups which include girls, to gain access to, and develop technological applications related to their own needs. 
 

African universities should institute equal opportunity and affirmative action programmes which aim at creating awareness among teachers and managers of schools, parents and communities, of the dangers of limiting girls' participation in education at all levels. 
 

Gender gaps must be closed by aiming at gender parity which reflects the population. 
 

African universities should work towards instituting proper provision of improved counselling and monitoring services. 
 

Such programmes like the AAU one known as "Chairs for women in science and technology" whose aim is to strengthen the participation of women and girls in science and technology in Africa should be encouraged. 
 

Concerted efforts should be made to produce materials relating to the subject of gender sensitization in African universities. This should go side by side with networking efforts with such active organizations like FAWE in the struggle for equity in education in Africa. 
 
 
7.4 Recommendations on Database on Thesis and Dissertations (DATAD) 
 

There is a critical need to get research on and by Africans into the global knowledge pool, and DATAD can play a very crucial role in this regard. 
 
The AAU should lead the DATAD process whose goal should be to produce an outstanding and easy-to-use product for which there would be a viable and sustainable market. 
 
Information contained in DATAD should be easily accessible within Africa, whereby, for example, participating institutions would receive DATAD free of charge. 
 
The maintenance and continuance of DATAD requires a financial and human resource investment and long-term commitment on the part of all the higher learning institutions that will be involved. 
 
There is a need to address the issues of poverty and lack of development vis a vis such undertakings like the DATAD one. 
 

7.5 Recommendations on Regional Co-operation in Graduate Training and Research 
 
There is a need for African universities to set up collaborative programmes in higher education and research under the aegis of the regional organizations of states. 
 

AAU members should consider the relationship between the different partners, individual or institutional. 
 

The relations between the North-South collaborators in research whereby the researchers from the North were seen as teachers and those from the South were taken as students need to be redressed. 
 

There is a need for a new and mutually beneficial partnership between African governments and African universities, African Universities and the private sector, and Regional/continental cooperation and collaboration among African universities. 
 
 

7.6 Recommendations on Information Communication Technology (ICT) 
 

Since the demand for university education in Africa is on the increase yet there is not enough space, the way out is an aggressive approach to avail ICT to African universities. 
 

African universities should understand that ICT would link them to like-minded institutions the world over while fulfilling the requirements for 21st century education and training which will necessarily be interactive, distance, cost-effective and life-long learning. 
 

African universities should be prepared for the special needs regarding the application of ICT , such as multi-media technology, potential tools and use of the Internet and the utilisation of the general trends of new technologies. 
 

African universities should also be ready to face the problems and setbacks that can face the application of ICT. These include the problems of low awareness and appreciation of the Internet and acute shortage of African experts in technology and management of such technologies. 
 

Funds must be set aside, and strategic plans must be drawn up which would include networking systems development and management, and trying to solve the problems of incompatibilities in technology. 
 

There is a need to have a clear picture of how we are going to introduce and use ICT in our universities so that issues like those of gender equity are taken into consideration. 
 

African Universities need to take into cognizance and exploit the rapid global developments and world-wide trends in education and technology to create conducive environment for teaching, learning and research in the 21^st century. 
 

African universities should be aware of the fact that ICT, being a complex concept with enormous potential to change structures of organizations, poses some management challenges. 
 

Assessment and/or survey of ICT capabilities at every African University should be undertaken soonest and within an agreed upon time interval. 
 

As much as possible, ICT development should be envisaged within University Strategic Development Plans. 
 

Efforts must be made to encourage the development of software in the current information technology revolution, that facilitates the use of characters and symbols needed for African languages. 
 
 

7.7 Recommendations on Access, Quality and Resource Management 
 

African universities must find ways and means of solving the problems which hinder, affect or influence access, quality, and resource management. Such problems include under-funding and overcrowding. 
 

In order to overcome the above problems African countries must strive to establish additional state universities based on the concept of elite traditional research universities, technical universities, private universities, polytechnics, and open universities /distance learning and virtual universities. 
 

In the area of gender related access, the AAU member universities should emulate the affirmative action taken in the universities of Dar es Salaam, Nairobi and Makerere. 
 

African universities must design the modalities for providing university education to the disabled people. It is imperative for such universities to consider seriously the issues of compatibility between access/quality vis a vis the point of view of broadening the base of access to cater for special interest groups. 
 

African universities must understand that quality may still be achieved without necessarily having elaborate resources; and that this will be possible especially through open learning and distance education. 
 

There is a need to re-examine the role of external quality assurance agencies, management of resources, and planning and budgeting. 
 

Institutions should be created, with viable revolving funds which will take care of the funding problems that the African Universities are facing. Within these, the bursary system can be inbuilt. 
 

In order to maintain autonomy, universities should devise ways and means of contributing to at least 40 % of the required funds in teaching and research. 
 

The role of the alumni and the students themselves in cost sharing should be lauded and facilitated by all the AAU member universities. 
 

African universities are urged to address the problems of inadequate funding, shift in educational policies from higher to primary and early childhood education, and poor remuneration of university staff. 
 
 

7.8 Specific Recommendations for AAU 
 

AAU should become familiar with existing University teaching and research data base and subsequently plan how best to build upon these, focussing on graduate programmes with regional relevance. 
 

AAU should inform and encourage donors regarding University requirements and priorities. 
 

AAU should put into consideration the establishment of African Higher Education Funds, through Governments, donors and private sector, to support well-defined research. 
 

AAU should provide practical ways of strengthening collaboration between Universities, research centres and private sectors throughout the region and between those in the North and the ones in the South of the Sahara. 
 

It is important that the AAU maintains close monitoring of the budget expenditures, particularly in the areas of administration, in view of the financial constraints that AAU faces. 
 

In reconsidering the issue of AAU membership, care should be taken to ensure that AAU remains a predominantly African association as it was meant to be from the beginning. 
 

AAU should take the initiative to put together, from the report of the World Conference on Higher Education, all those aspects which are relevant to the African Universities for deliberations. 
 

AAU should disseminate initiatives taken by individual universities at the regional level e.g. and encourage entrepreneurship. 
 

AAU should encourage common usage of human and material resources available between the Universities. 
 

AAU should provide guidelines on the availability of resources that may be shared by Universities at Regional level. 
 

AAU must pressure OAU and governments to provide adequate resources to support postgraduate education resources to support postgraduate education and research on sustainable basis to supplement donor support. 
 

AAU should act as a catalyst in the endeavours to introduce and use the ICT. For example, the Association can coordinate the African universities in such a way that those experienced universities which are already into ICT should share their ideas, knowledge and experience with those which have not started. 
 

AAU is requested to kindly assist any African University that may require such assistance, in developing guidelines for the formulation of strategic ICT plans. 
 

AAU should ensure high level of ICT awareness, and facilitate training for policy planners, technical personnel and users. 
 

AAU should facilitate, in collaboration with African universities, the provision of guidelines for IPR and copyright. 
 

AAU should kindly assist African Universities with acquiring capacity to facilitate access to library resources and services through announcements of new trends/technology/tools /information to member universities. 
 

The AAU should set up regional conferences to bring together sister universities to talk and deliberate on collaboration. 
 

There is a need for AAU to be repositioned and appropriately empowered to serve both as a coordinating and implementing agency. The requirements and implications of a repositioned AAU will need to be carefully worked out and the means of meeting such commitments meticulously explored. 
 

The AAU should play the important role of promoting horizontal dialogues across systems and divisions, and vertical ones between the African academic community and the respective states, with the aim of working toward reducing the obstacles to regional collaboration. 
 

AAU should establish standardized credit systems among African universities so as to ensure that there are no academic obstacles in the exchange of students between the universities. 
 

The AAU Secretariat should set up a list serve for AAU members to be managed by a member institution so as to allow communication on issues between presidents, vice chancellors, and rectors. 
 

Regarding the language question, AAU is charged with the role of going beyond the survey it has already carried out to look at successful models in which indigenous languages are used in higher education programmes. At the same time, AAU should encourage African language teaching outside of Africa. 
 

AAU should work with other institutions and like-minded associations from other parts of the world, to consider and explore future directions in higher education. 
 

AAU is urged to look into the implications and possibilities of the "virtual university" while, at the same time, examining the implications of the influences of information technology generally on higher education. 
 

The AAU Secretariat should prepare documentation about the services and advantages of membership in the AAU. Several categories of membership be considered and also membership should not be based on AAU's financial needs. 
 

The AAU should set up an endowment and also a stabilization fund, seeking professional advice about the best methods to protect funds and manage the endowment over the years. This should be done in conjunction with the preparation of a business plan for the AAU. 
 

Regarding the official languages used by AAU it was emphasized that a plan of action being drawn up by the AAU Secretariat should be the basis for the issue.