Addis Ababa, April 10, 2013- The African continent does not have any continental accreditation system of higher education, but several countries have their national accreditation systems in place.

This was said today at a workshop today, bringing together experts and practitioners in higher education quality and accreditation. The workshop aims to brainstorm and critically examine the technical, financial, and administrative issues with regard to the establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency. The Director of the African Union’s Human Resources, Science and Technology Department (HRST), Dr. Abdul-Hakim Elwaer, in his opening statement underlined that, the establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency is vital to guarantee high quality of education provision in the Pan African University (PAU) and to ensure its international recognition. He further noted that one major requirement for the PAU is ensuring excellence through internal quality assurance mechanisms and external accreditation.

The overall objectives of the brainstorming meeting are the followings:

a. To exchange experiences and views among participants on quality assurance and accreditation mechanisms in Africa;

b. To spot comparable practices that create basis for regional and continental harmonization in quality assurance practices;

c. To identify areas of collaboration between quality assurance and accreditation agencies towards harmonization at regional and continental levels; and to create basis for establishing a Continental Accreditation Agency;

d. To critically examine the technical, financial, and administrative issues with regard to Establishment of a Continental Accreditation Agency; and

e. To spell out the specific roles of African Quality Assurance Network (AfriQAN) in launching the Continental Accreditation Agency.

The creation of continent-wide accreditation body will strengthen cooperation in quality monitoring; development of compatible methodologies; harmonization of procedures; mutual recognition of academic qualifications; and facilitate the mobility of students and academics across the continent.

For the Editor:
Currently, there is no continental mechanism for accreditation. The AU Executive Council decision of January 2012 on the establishment of the Pan African University also requested the Commission to develop an African Accreditation Agency in collaboration with relevant stakeholders. As the PAU is a flagship project of the African Union Commission to revitalize higher education and research in Africa by nurturing quality and exemplifying excellence, the creation of such agency is paramount.