Pan-African University

The Pan-African University (or Pan African University) (PAU) is a post-graduate training and research network of university nodes in five regions, supported by the African Union. The new organization is also supported by the Association of African Universities.

The first African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology was held in 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The attendees undertook to improve the quality of science and technology education, and saw that the PAU would be necessary to improve the quality of science education and thereby to improve productivity of African economies. These ideas were elaborated in a "concept note" which outlined the objectives of the PAU. In 2008 the African Union agreed that the PAU should be established. A high-level panel was appointed in 2009 to oversee the PAU. The PAU was officially launched in 2011, and the University's Statute was adopted in 2013.

The PAU high level panel included Njabulo Ndebele, author and former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, and Ahmadou Lamine Ndiaye, president of the Sénégal Academy of Science and Technology. An interim Rectorate took over the high level panel, headed by Deputy Rector Professor Kassa Belay of Ethiopia. A Steering Committee stakeholders including representatives of the African Union Commission, eminent African academics, Africans in the Diaspora, partners, the public and private sector performed the role of a Council until the establishment of the PAU Council in June 2015. (

The PAU aims to provide the opportunity for advanced graduate training and postgraduate research to high-performing African students. Objectives also include promoting mobility of students and teachers and harmonizing programs and degrees. According to Kenyan Education Minister Sam Ongeri the PAU will stimulate collaborative and internationally competitive research, and enhance the attractiveness of African higher education and research institutions.

The Pan African University addresses five crucial thematic areas, through a network of five flagship institutes, namely Basic Sciences, Technology and Innovation; Life and Earth Sciences (including Health and Agriculture), Governance, Humanities and Social Sciences; Water and Energy Sciences (including Climate Change); and Space Sciences. The thematic areas are assigned to institutes hosted by existing Universities of excellence across Africa’s five geographic regions as follows