Africa

Warwick appoints former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations Advocate Bience Gawanas as new Chancellor

Bience will serve as the ceremonial head of the University, presiding over major events, including graduation ceremonies, and acting as an ambassador for Warwick's principles of academic excellence, diversity, and social impact.
Congratulations to 2024 Templeton Prize Laureate, Prof. Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela

Last year we had the honour of hosting Prof. Gobodo-Madikizela at Warwick when she gave an inspirational lecture on the intergenerational impact of apartheid in South Africa as part of our Distinguished Africa lecture series.
Warwick Africa Hub hosts our annual Distinguished Africa lecture and a panel discussion on innovation and sustainability

Over 120 staff, students and members of the public heard speakers tackle challenges and opportunities for transforming Africa and the role of artificial intelligence in Higher Education.
Join the Warwick Africa Hub mailing list

Be the first to hear about our Africa initiatives and events, including guest lectures and funding schemes.
A new publication on natural resource governance in Africa

Prof Franklyn Lisk, Co-Academic Director (Africa) has contributed to a new handbook which provides a comprehensive analysis of African natural resource governance. The publication is edited by Prof Cristina D’Alessandro and Dr Hany Besada, both members of the Warwick Africa Hub external advisory board.

The Warwick Africa Hub

Mutually Beneficial Collaborations

Africa is undergoing a remarkable period of economic and social transformation, with higher education playing a key role. Through deepening our understanding of priorities and development needs of our partners, Warwick is building collaborations rooted in principles of equality and mutually beneficial engagement.

The Africa strategy will broaden the range and geographical diversity of Warwick’s global partners and, more importantly, seize on the opportunity presented to introduce innovative approaches to international collaboration.

Connect with us

The Warwick Africa Hub

The Warwick Africa Hub was established in 2022 to focus on advancing new research ideas unconstrained by disciplinary boundaries and innovative education initiatives. Our ambition is for collaborations that extend beyond universities.

Warwick Africa Hub Governance Structure

Distinguished Africa Lecture

In this lecture, Prof. Tshilidzi Marwala looks at the current state of the Higher Education sector on the African continent, arguing for the reimagining of Higher Education in Africa through the lens of artificial intelligence (AI). He demonstrates the potential of AI to unlock a new development path for the next generation of leaders.

See the lecture

Senior Leadership Visiting Fellowship

We are supporting the development of the next-generation African research leaders. Research Fellows visit Warwick and establish connections with academics and departments with the aim of developing an application for an externally funded fellowship.

Visiting PhD Fellowships

The Africa Hub is delighted to announce our inaugural round of Visiting PhD Fellowships for students registered at African universities.

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Africa Research Fellowships

The Africa Research Fellowship, hosted by IAS, provides a route for outstanding postdoctoral researchers to visit Warwick and establish connections with academics and departments. The Fellowship programme supports early career researchers in developing an application to an external funding body which could allow them to develop their academic career.

Find out More Hear from a recent fellow

Our Strategic Partners

We have strong cross-cultural relationships with individuals and institutions across sub-Saharan Africa. Our new collaborations are driving global change and below are a few example case studies:

Stellenbosch

In 2022, Stellenbosch University and the University of Warwick signed an agreement with the aim of combining expertise and engaging in collaborative activities. One of the aims of the agreement is to support collaboration between the two universities. We are delighted to have launched the Stellenbosch-Warwick Joint Seed Fund to facilitate joint activity, establish links, and advance existing projects.

Stellenbosch-Warwick Joint Seed Fund

Capacity Building

Through our links with The Guild of European Research Intensive UniversitiesLink opens in a new window, Warwick works closely with the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) Link opens in a new windowand its member universities to establish sustainable research and education partnerships with universities and researchers in Africa.

Africa - Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoREs)

Warwick has joined with partners from across Africa and Europe to form vital new Clusters of Research Excellence (CoREs).

Multimorbidity

Priority area: Public Health

Non-communicable diseases, the leading cause of death worldwide, usually co-exist with other chronic health conditions in the same individual giving rise to multimorbidity. There is lack of data on the burden or clustering of multimorbidity at the population level, or context-specific evidence to guide integrated, optimal prevention and management of multimorbidity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

The Multimorbidity CoRE will leverage digital technology and artificial intelligence to address key gaps in quantification, clustering, trend prediction and evaluation of new interventions to improve diagnostics, safety, and effectiveness of interventions for prevention, treatment, and control of multimorbidity in SSA.

To ensure sustainability, this CoRE will collaborate with governments, industry, and partner agencies to enhance training of the next generation of health care practitioners across the spectrum of patient care for multimorbidity in all partner countries. The CoRE will explore precision medicine approaches as a next-step strategy towards addressing multimorbidity in SSA.

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Sustainable Food Systems

Priority area: Innovation & Technology

As a truly global platform, the Africa-Europe Cluster of Research Excellence (CoRE) will address food systems challenges by (1) conducting collaborative research on food systems transformation, (2) assuring continuity through a 10-year collaboration, (3) pooling resources for scale and impact, and (4) significantly bolstering capacity in African institutions. Collaboration will span disciplines, geography, and sectors, enabling solutions that transcend unilateral approaches.

The 10-year activity plan is aligned with three pillars: education, research, and technology transfer. The plan draws on the broad fundraising and rich network capabilities inherent in the Cluster membership. Building on the sound foundation of already established partnerships and programmes, extensive collaborative research and capacity building are envisaged, with a particular focus on early career researchers embedded in joint projects. By ensuring that the next generation scientists operate within a global community that co-creates solutions with multi-sectoral stakeholders, the Cluster will make substantive contributions to addressing challenges in African and European food systems.

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Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, and Theoretical and Computational Thinking

Priority area: Innovation & Technology

Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods have become powerful tools for addressing societal challenges in almost all areas of life. This development is fuelled by improved connectivity, increased computational power, and data access. Applications of AI will play an essential role in achieving many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by tackling problems in a multitude of areas, like climate change, food security, education, public health, access to energy and clean water, and, in the areas in the social sciences and humanities, social justice to name a few.

While the SDGs and many connected societal challenges are global, the capacity for utilising AI methods and research in AI and Data Science still needs to be improved in Africa. The goal of the Cluster is to strengthen the capabilities for research and postgraduate training in these areas at key universities in Africa and initiate research projects in areas of global relevance.

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Building Capacities for Interdisciplinary Peace Research: Exploring Conflict, Environment, Technology, Inequality, and Identity in Africa

Priority area: Capacities for Science

This CoRE will undertake an interdisciplinary approach to address peace and security challenges at the intersection of the environment, technology, and political (in)stability, focusing on four crosscutting intervention areas: (1) knowledge generation and dissemination, (2) capacity building and cohort building across the academy, (3) dissemination, and (4) practice in Africa and Europe.

The approach will be systematic, participatory, decolonised, and solution-oriented. The pathways to change include the development of research databases, supervision capacities and joint PhDs, research workshops, policy dialogues and peacebuilding interventions.

Existing knowledge systems show that identity and inequality influence peace and conflict in Africa, because they interact to underline access to income, environment, political participation, and technology. Despite the growing global significance of environmental sustainability and technological proliferation, their nexus with identity and inequality have not been adequately studied in African peace and (in)security discourses. This Cluster fills this gap by centring them as important contributors alongside peace and security.

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Supporting networks and activities

The Ashinaga AssociationLink opens in a new window

Our partnership with the Association brings the brightest minds from across Sub-Saharan Africa, who have been orphaned or grown up with a single parent, to study at the University.

Warwick in Africa

A student volunteering and education programme that works with schools across Africa to support teachers to raise aspirations in their learners by providing the best possible education.

The African Women Playwrights Network

The Network is a research platform that takes the form of a virtual community of female creative practitioners living in Africa or from the African diaspora.

Hear from our Africa leads

Professor Franklyn Lisk

Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Africa

"I am delighted to be taking on the role of Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Africa which reflects Warwick’s commitment, as one of the world’s leading international universities, to strengthen its engagement with Africa in a mutually beneficial manner. I look forward to working with the entire Warwick community and beyond towards delivering on this commitment."

Professor Dan Branch

Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Africa

"There are already a number of strong ties between Warwick academics and their colleagues in a range of different African universities. Working closely with such partners, I hope we can build upon this foundation with new research and teaching partnerships to include non-governmental organisations, international institutions, private research institutes and private sector bodies."