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WACCI participates in the 6th ACE Impact Regional Workshop

A team from the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) has participated in the 6th biannual Africa Higher Education Centres of Excellence for Development Impact (ACE Impact) project regional workshop.

The two-day virtual workshop, which commenced on Tuesday, November 9, 2021, ended on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.

WACCI team at the ACE Impact Regional Workshop

 

Delivering the opening remarks at the workshop, Professor Olusola Bandele the Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities (AAU) expressed his enthusiasm about the workshop and stated that despite the COVID 19 pandemic and its challenges, the ACE Impact project has been resilient in staying committed to its goals. Professor Bandele urged all the fifty-three (53) Centres of Excellence to strive for excellence in meeting the project goals and objectives.

 

Dr. Sylvia Mkandawire—the Program Manager, ACE Impact (AAU) in her opening remarks indicated that the preceding Ministerial Project Steering Committee meeting held on Monday, November 8 was impactful and hoped the subsequent workshop would be no different. Dr, Mkandawire provided updates on the progress of the ACE Impact. As indication of progress, a summary performance of the project from January 2019 to September 2021 indicated that 42% of the Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLI’s) had been achieved, with three out of the five Project Development Objective (PDO) indicators including Student Enrollment, International Accreditation, and Student and Faculty Internships being achieved. She however enumerated some challenges that have restricted the ACE Impact project from achieving all its goals. These included the COVID 19 disruptions that affected student recruitment and staff mobility. There was also delay in the procurement processes, delay in achieving project effectiveness in some countries and delay in submission of Environmental and Social Management Plan (ESMP) by Centres undertaking civil works. She hoped that the ACE Impact project would put in place measures to address the challenges timely. Despite these challenges, the ACE Impact project has seen significant improvement in the attainment of its goals and objectives, she said.

 

The WACCI team comprised Prof. Eric Danquah, Centre Leader, Dr. Daniel Dzidzienyo, Deputy Centre Leader, Mrs. Jennifer Saint-Acquaye, Team Lead for Sectoral Partnership, Ms. Lucia Akumpule, Team Lead, Project Management, Mrs. Agartha Wetani Akwamuwor, Finance Officer, Mr. David Arthur, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Bonaparte, Safeguard Specialist and Mrs. Elizabeth Borley Amoah, Procurement Specialist.