Addis-Ababa, 18 April 2018, under the aegis of the Commissioner in charge of Human Resources, Science and Technology (HRST), the Pan-African University (PAU) today, held the meeting of its regional steering committee. The steering committee is a statutory meeting held within the framework of African Development Bank’s funding to the Pan-African University. This gathering aims at making recommendations on the evolution of the project for the years to come. Its members include:

- Representatives of Regional Economic Communities (RECs)
- Representatives of host universities;
- Directors of PAU institutes supported by AfDB;
- A representative of the Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology (STC-EST) ;
- The Coordinator of the AfDB-ECA-AUC joint Secretariat
- A representative from the civil society;
- Representatives from the Private sector ;
- A representative from Women associations ;
- A representative from Finance of the African Union Commission;
- A representative from African Union’s administration ;
- A representative from PAU Rectorate ;

The opening ceremony was marked by the address by Dr. Yohannes Woldetensae, Senior official in charge of Education representing the Department of Human Resources Science and Technology (HRST) and H.E. Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, absent for professional reasons. Dr. Yohannes thanked the members of the steering committee for coming to this important meeting. He recalled that when Heads of State and Government established PAU in 2010, they aimed at achieving a noble objective which is strengthening higher education and research in Africa and catalyse innovation, competitiveness and economic development. Thus, he thanked the Governments of Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon and South Africa for having agreed to host the five PAU institutes but also for their financial, support, Staff and infrastructures provided for the smooth running of institutes. He also expressed appreciation to partners, notably GIZ and the African Development Bank which financially support the Nigeria, Cameroon and Kenya- based institutes for which this steering committee is gathering. Finally, Dr. Yohannes underscored the relevance of recommendations made during this meeting for the advancement of the project.

The meeting per se consisted in the presentation of all the aspects of the PAU project since its inception in 2010, its physical and financial implementation, academic results, performance indicators, recruitment of academic and administrative staff as well as studies launched to improve its functioning.

The various presentations interspersed by questions from the participants were made by the members of the Rectorate.

Recommendations were made at the end of the meeting to the PAU leading team for the years to come.