Africa - UK Partership
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Engineering Education Workshop – Zimbabwe June/July 2011
The development and encouragement of a regionally-relevant engineering curriculum is essential if Africa is to produce the engineering capabilities required to meet future challenges. The Partnership is therefore especially keen to work closely with other organizations engaged in relevant/complementary capacity building activities in this area.
In early 2010 the Partnership entered into discussions with the UK National Commission to UNESCO (UKNC), which operates across many areas of mutual interest. This resulted in a commitment from UKNC of £10 000 plus staff support towards an A-UK Partnership workshop on Engineering Education to be held in Zimbabwe at the end of March 2011.
Preparations for the workshop were at an advanced stage when in January 2011 the UK Department for International Development (DfID) suspended the UKNC’s operating budget pending publication of the UK Government’s Multilateral Aid Review (MAR). It was agreed by all involved that in view of the contribution that UKNC had already made to the planning and preparation, the workshop should be postponed until the outcome of MAR was known.
In late February 2011 the MAR recommended that UNESCO be placed under special Measures, which left UKNC unable to fulfil its financial or staff commitment to the workshop. The Partnership therefore decided to reschedule the workshop for June/July 2011.
Young Professionals Workshop – Botswana September 2011
In 2010 the Botswana Institute of Engineers (BIE) launched a registration system to (a) build a record of the country’s national capabilities in engineering and (b) assure standards of education, training and experience are in line with the profession’s requirements. BIE which receives statutory funding from Government, is an exemplar of the strong, professional engineering institution the partnership aims to encourage and therefore a most appropriate workshop host.
The UK and other industrial nations have about 20-50 scientists and engineers per 10 000 people. Sub-Saharan Africa currently has only 1 per 10 000 people. The African engineering profession has an urgent need therefore to attract greater numbers of young people into its ranks.
Engineering institutions have key roles to play in this process by providing clear routes for professional development and in representing the profession at the highest levels. As an interface between engineers and policymakers, institutions are often valuable incubators for future leaders of the profession. An institution’s strength is however largely dependent on its ability to attract registrants. The workshop will focus on the challenges faced by professional engineers in the early stage of their careers across the SADC region. It will also explore ways in which institutions can best attract and harness the energy and enthusiasm of their young members, and how young engineers can make their voices heard.
The Africa-UK Engineering for Development Partnership continued their quest to build and sustain engineering capacity in Africa with their second workshop, held in Arusha, Tanzania, during the last week of November 2010.
‘Connectivity’ is at the core of the Partnership’s goals, and perhaps no subject emphasizes the importance of connectivity more than rural access. Without adequate infrastructure rural areas cannot ‘connect’ with markets and benefit from economic development. However in recent years ‘infrastructure’ has come to be associated with large civil engineering projects with the result that little attention has been given to pro-poor ‘bread and butter’ projects that make a real difference to people’s lives, such as proper, well-maintained roads. The challenge for the engineering community is to convey this to decision makers, particularly in the international development community.
Rural Transport and development was listed as one of the main priorities by the AEF signatory countries to be addressed in training workshops early last year during the launch of the Partnership at the Engineering Planet Future Indaba. In order to deliver world class training material to transport engineers from all over Africa The Royal Academy of Engineering, Engineers Against Poverty, Institution of Civil Engineers, SAICE and the AEF partnered with the UK Department for International Development (DfID) and the African Community Access Programme (AFCAP), a DfID- funded initiative to support knowledge exchange, training and research to improve access to rural communities in Africa. The workshop was hosted by the AEF Signatory Engineering Institution of Tanzania who has in turn developed strong links with Ministries of roads and public works in several African countries, which assisted in ensuring a strong and influential audience at the workshop.
On the last day of the workshop the delegates was treated to the very well known SAICE Young Members Panel’s Anti-Corruption Play. This dramatization of Ethicana, Ethics & Corruption within Engineering Professions enabled the team to spread the message that corruption within the Engineering Industry is not acceptable, to raise awareness and discuss potential solutions.
The YMP team was fully sponsored by Autodesk South Africa to attend the workshop and take the Ethics and Anti-Corruption play and presentation into Africa.
On behalf of the Africa-UK Partnership we would like to thank our partner sponsors for their technical and financial support during the Rural Transport and Development Training workshop and we are looking forward to continuing the quest to create a sustainable future for all in Africa.
The Africa-UK Engineering for Development Partnership is sponsored by the Anglo-American Group Foundation, David and Elaine Potter Foundation and Schlumberger.
As part of its International Capacity Building programme, the Africa –UK Partnership is currently in the process of undertaking a series of surveys to assess capacity building needs for the engineering profession in Africa. The objectives are:
- to build an evidence base that can be used to identify priorities for capacity building.
- provide baseline data against which the Partnership can measure its future success
The survey consists of two parts: the first aimed at engineers working in Africa, the other for decision makers who engage with them. If you wish to participate in this survey please go to the following links:
Professional Engineers: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9RKFPFV
Policy Makers: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9SZZF7B
Structured interviews will also be undertaken alongside the survey to provide more detailed qualitative data from key stakeholders.
For further information, please contact SAICE.
