TUNISIA: Leading the African continent in ICT

Tunisia has demonstrated the most improvement in technology-readiness of any other country in the African continent especially in higher education sector, according to a new report.

TUNISIA: Tackling graduate unemployment

Tunisia has unveiled a new savings-and-loan programme to lower the unemployment rate of nearly 15% for new university graduates. The scheme will offer graduates a chance to generate enough capital to launch their own businesses.

Virtual university aims to boost Islamic science

Islamic countries plan to set up a virtual university, a technology transfer network and a prize for science research.

AFRICA: Research governance initiative launched

A new project to boost management of research at African universities has been launched. University Research Governance, started by Canada's International Development Research Centre, aims to focus universities on usable research outputs to enhance socio-economic development.

ARAB WORLD: Tackling graduate unemployment

To develop entrepreneurship and promote technological development in the 22 Arab states as a means of tackling graduate unemployment, the United Arab Emirates organised a science investment forum.

AFRICA: Research concentrated in three countries

Africa has extremely uneven distribution of research and innovative capacity, according to a recent report. Research is concentrated in Egypt in the north, Nigeria in the middle and South Africa in the south. Africa produces only some 27,000 papers a year - about the same volume of published output as The Netherlands - but the continent has relatively high representation, as a share of world publications, in fields related to natural resources.

AFRICA: Virtual university to help control cancer

The International Atomic Energy Agency and the Swiss-based pharmaceutical firm Roche launched an initiative - Education for Cancer in African Regions, or EDUCARE - to help tackle acute shortages of skilled cancer professionals in Africa.

JAPAN-NORTH AFRICA: Boost for university cooperation

Japan and six North African states - Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia - are to boost cooperation between universities. This was agreed at a summit held on 14 May in Tunis and attended by leaders and representatives from several Japanese and African universities.

Making Higher Education Work for Africa’s Competitiveness

Higher education should play a critical catalytic role in Africa’s economic growth, according to African policy makers and experts from the public and private sectors.

The Matariki Network of Universities….“Partnering for a better world”

The Matariki Network of Universities (MNU) are a select international group of outstanding universities, with each member leading international best practice in research and education based on long academic traditions.