ARUA Honours Prof. Ernest Aryeetey for Transformative Leadership
Last Friday, 24 May 2024, ARUA honoured its out-going Secretary-General, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, for exceptional service to the Alliance and African higher education, culminating in a distinguished tenure that began with ARUA’s inception in March 2015. The ceremony, organized by the Future Africa Campus of University of Pretoria, took place at a dinner celebrating both the fifth anniversary of Future Africa and Prof. Aryeetey’s retirement. This followed the conclusion of his final Board meeting.
Speaking at the event, the ARUA Board Chair, Professor Sizwe Mabizela, praised Prof. Aryeetey’s achievements as the Foundation Secretary-General, highlighting his visionary leadership and lasting impact on African higher education. He said “Indeed, ARUA and the African continent owe Prof Aryeetey an inestimable debt of gratitude for leading our Alliance and for being its greatest and admirable diplomat”.
Reflecting on his tenure, Prof. Aryeetey shared the fortuitous journey of becoming Secretary-General and acknowledged the pivotal contributions of many individuals to ARUA’s formation and growth. Under his leadership, ARUA fostered ground-breaking collaborations, including the Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence (CoRE), which united researchers from over 60 institutions across two continents. He also spearheaded the ARUA-Mastercard PhD initiative, aiming to train 1,000 PhDs annually for the next decade, to significantly enhance research capacity and innovation in Africa.
Prof. Aryeetey’s tenure saw the development of the ARUA Centres of Excellence (CoEs), which aggregate researchers from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to address areas related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also championed capacity building and the mainstreaming of institutional research in African universities through the Data-gathering and Benchmarking project. Securing funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF), Andrew Mellon Foundation, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY), and the Open Society Foundations (OSF), he significantly bolstered ARUA’s financial position to undertake various projects aimed at enhancing collaborative research and improving graduate training in Africa.
He organized four successful international biennial conferences that provided a platform for researchers to reflect on and address critical policy issues, such as the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), global public health challenges, and the future of higher education in Africa. Additionally, Prof. Aryeetey co-championed the Africa Charter for Transformative Research Collaborations and has facilitated cooperation with several organizations, including the Association of African Universities (AAU), African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA).
His dedication to supporting young researchers was evident through the Early Career Researchers (ECR) program, which emphasized mobility and connectivity across various research networks on the continent. Prof. Aryeetey’s leadership was also instrumental in getting Vice Chancellors to actively collaborate while decentralizing ARUA’s activities through the formation of working groups of Deans across member universities.
Under his guidance, ARUA gained great visibility internationally and forged numerous partnerships, including those with Universitas 21 (U21), the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the University of London Federation and the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities. His strong interest in improving research quality and expanding collaborative research in Africa has been widely recognized, earning him six honorary degrees from across the world.
Prof. Aryeetey’s term ends on 31st July 2024. He will be succeeded by Prof. John Owusu Gyapong, who will assume the position of Secretary-General on 1st August 2024 for a 4-year term. The transition will mark a new chapter for ARUA, building on the solid foundation of Prof. Aryeetey’s exemplary leadership.
