The meeting took place on Thursday April 21, 2022 under the auspices of the “VII Congresso CUCS 2022” hosted by Federico II University of Naples, Italy.

The IHEA Foundation brings together six of Italy’s top universities – Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Università degli studi di Padova, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Politecnico di Milano, Università La Sapienza di Roma, Alma Mater Studiorum Bologna.

The Foundation, which was established in 2020, seeks to promote education and training for students who reside in Africa using the requisite interdisciplinary scientific approaches as well as encourage and support refresher programmes for academic and non-academic staff of African universities. Pursuant to this, the Foundation has already signed bilateral agreements with a number of African universities under its Virtual Mobility Programme.

ARUA is a network of selected flagship universities in Africa with a common vision to expand and enhance significantly the quality of research carried out by African researchers. The Network has been operational since March 2015, when it was inaugurated in Dakar. The modus operandi of ARUA is working together.