150 Staff from 100 Universities Graduate from Incubation Leadership and Digital Skills Training towards quality and sustainable education in EAC
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 28th February, 2025: In a groundbreaking initiative aimed at enhancing the quality and sustainability of education within the East African Community (EAC),150 educational staff from 100 universities successfully graduated from the Incubation Leadership and Digital Skills Training program.
The programme marked a significant milestone in the commitment to fostering academic excellence and innovation across the region.
The programme organized by the EAC in collaboration with the German government, is implemented by the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) in partnership with the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). The programme aimed to empower universities to foster academia-industry collaboration, positioning universities as key drivers of regional economic growth.
The programme’s inception in June 2024, followed a comprehensive Training Needs Assessment, revealing key gaps in innovation management across East African universities. Findings indicated that 65% of institutions required enhanced innovation infrastructure, and 60% sought structured capacity-building programmes in technology transfer and intellectual property management.
Addressing these needs, the training focused on incubation leadership, academia-industry collaboration, and strengthening innovation ecosystems.
This collaborative effort engaged universities and stakeholders from across the EAC Partner State namely; Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, in partnership with Entrepreneur Support Organizations (ESOs) from East Africa and Germany, including the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), SA Innovation Summit, E4Impact Foundation, StartHub Africa, Koneta Hub, Centre d'innovation de Lubumbashi (CINOLU), ACLIS, and Technische Universität (TU) Berlin.
These partners delivered a world-class curriculum and masterclasses, with deep dives into scaling innovation and start-up support within universities.
Speaking on behalf of the Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) Executive Secretary, Prof. Gaspard Banyankimbona, Dr. Salome Guchu, the Principal Innovation and Research Officer, expressed gratitude for the tremendous contribution by all actors in the programme. She noted that this programme demonstrates the commitment of EAC-Partner States to building a network of innovation leaders and advance technology transfer across the region for sustainable development.
On her part, Dr Dorcas Omukhulu, the EAC Principal Education Officer said “We appreciate GIZ’s efforts through the dSkills@EA project, in skilling trainers, teachers and students across East Africa, including Somalia. The project has transformed digital capacities and regional integration as we set to launch the AI Alliance, it will build on these gains.”
The 4-months programme equipped 129 university hub managers, research and development officers and technology transfer officers from over 91 universities in East Africa, with skills in innovation management and research commercialisation. It provided strategic frameworks for managing innovation processes, protecting academic innovations, translating research into market-ready solutions, and fostering supportive environments for start-ups and spin-offs.
93.6% of participants stated the training met or exceeded their expectations, with 85% integrating innovation management principles into their institutional curricula. In Uganda, the programme catalyzed the formation of the Consortium of University Hubs network, enabling over 10 universities to formalize innovation partnerships and co-develop research commercialization strategies.
Sharing his testimonial as a participant of the programme, Mr. Edison Kagona, Manager for the Center of Innovation at Cavendish University in Uganda, praised the programme for highlighting the importance of universities to unite and collaborate through strategic partnerships in research commercialization in order to achieve a lasting transformation of the community.
The event also marked the graduation of 22 university staff from the Federal Republic of Somalia, who were also recognized for successfully completing a digital skills training programme designed to equip educators with essential digital tools for enhancing higher education delivery.
This milestone marked the successful culmination of the program, which previously trained 107 participants from 37 universities across the seven EAC Partner States earlier in the year, making a total of 4,000 beneficiaries trained to date. The training in Somalia was delivered in collaboration with SIMAD University, reinforcing regional efforts to strengthen digital competencies in higher education.
Mr. Abdiwahab Isak, Director of International Cooperation at SIMAD University in Somalia, commended the initiative expressing profound appreciation to all partners of dSkills@EA project for making this a reality and onboarding Somalia to the programme.
Mr. David Roos, dSkills@EA Project Director, emphasized, "We are not just training individuals—we are cultivating an ecosystem that fosters innovation and drives economic development." “Building on this success, as recorded in the dSkills@EA project, IUCEA and GIZ will continue engaging universities through advanced digital skills, AI research and innovation through regional collaboration platforms,” he added.
With growing momentum, this initiative is set to strengthen universities' role in innovation and digital transformation across the EAC region, ensuring they remain key contributors to economic and technological advancement.
Find more details about the dSkills@EA project and related interventions, please visit the website: www.eacgermany.org
For more information, please contact:
Ms Lillian Akot
Advisor, Communication and Trainings
Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
OR
Simon Peter Owaka
Senior Public Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 768 552087
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.