The announcement accompanying the award said that Prof. Aryeetey will be awarded the degree Doctor of Commerce (DCom), honoris causa. A former vice-chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Aryeetey is the founding Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA), a network of universities that focus on building research capacity on the continent. Following the establishment of ARUA, he spearheaded the identification of 13 research areas to facilitate interdisciplinary research collaboration and created 11 ARUA centres of excellence. 

The statement also said that five recipients of honorary doctorates this year are exceptional individuals who have contributed significantly not only to their immediate communities, but also to the world at large,” says Prof. Wim de Villiers, SU Rector and Vice-Chancellor. “Their achievements speak for themselves, and the University is proud to be associated with them.”   Their steadfast commitment to changing people’s lives for the better resonates strongly with the University’s vision of not only promoting excellence, inclusion and innovation, but also advancing social engagement and reciprocal knowledge-sharing for the benefit of society. 

Other awardees are Ms. Zubeida Jaffer, an award-winning South African journalist, author, and activist; Mr Strive Masiyiwa, founder and executive chairman of telecommunications group Econet Global Ltd; Prof. Kenneth Shropshire, founding chief executive of the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University, and Mr. Thomas Dreyer (Tommie) van Zyl, chief executive of the ZZ2 farming enterprise and fresh-produce company. 

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