A 5-year-old partnership of major U.S. foundations dedicated to advancing higher education and development in Africa is broadening in size and ambition, committing to invest $200 million over the next five years.
The initiative includes more than $5 million for an eightfold increase in Internet bandwidth capacity for a consortium of African universities. Representatives of six multibillion-dollar philanthropies, including Chicago's John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, joined UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at the Ford Foundation in New York.
In a statement, Annan, a native of Ghana, called the effort "an outstanding display of global citizenship."In May 2000, MacArthur, Ford, Rockefeller Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York formed the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa. Since then, they collectively have given more than $150 million in support of selected universities in Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and, more recently, Kenya.
The schools have been seen as agents of social, economic and political progress."This effort expands our commitment to the renaissance of African higher education and to its importance in Africa's future development," said Ford President Susan Berresford, in a statement."
African universities that combine excellent, world-class education with programs of practical training are vital to progress, and it is heartening to see them emerge," said Jonathan Fanton, president of MacArthur, which has been active in Nigeria since 1989.
[By Charles Storch, The Chicago Tribune]
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