Pandemic exposes need for new university funding strategy. My interview with Wagdy Sawahel for University World News Africa Edition touched on philanthropy and higher education in Africa and the potential of university foundations. As governments around the world redirect capital spending towards mitigating the socio-economic impact of the pandemic and health sector requirements, universities are bracing themselves against the financial impacts on their own operations.
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I was thrilled to present my books on Radio Television Sénégalaise with TV host Khady Ndiaye on a show called Kenkelibaa. I shared the floor with Abdoulaye Fodé Ndione and Antoinette Correa, two leading publishers engaged in developing reading and access to books in West Africa.
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I was at the Musée des civilisations noires in Dakar for a colloquium on bilingualism and bilingual education organized by Laurent Bonardi and Ecole Actuelle Bilingue. Ranka Bijeljac-Babic, Thierry Nazzi, Aliou Seck, and I brought different perspectives on the advantage and importance of bilingual education and bilingualism in our societies, and their potential for cognitive, cultural, and economic development.
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I was in Dakar for Thanksgiving and presented my books, Unequal Partners and Partenaires inégaux at the West African Research Center (WARC). I was equally pleased to visit Université Cheick Anta Diop and exchange with the administrators of Fondation UCAD as well as meet with several professors and students.
Continue readingIn the context of higher education, the primary language of instruction—the language that is used in class and to conduct research—is an important but complex factor. In many countries, the language of instruction varies between the primary, secondary, and university levels. Unsurprisingly, American foundations investing in higher education on the African continent target institutions where English is the primary language of instruction. English is the primary language of instruction at more than 90% of the institutions of higher education that have received grants from American foundations; the equivalent figures for French and for Arabic are 4% and 3%, respectively. I was thrilled to present on this issue during the Comparative and International Education Society’s annual conference in San Francisco in a panel chaired by legendary scholar, Robert Arnove.
On April 9, I took part in a panel discussion on the evolution of education financing in Africa at Teachers College, Columbia University. The conference, which was organized by The Center for African Education, in collaboration with NORRAG, Tri-State Area Africa Funders, and the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School, explored how new funding mechanisms and philanthropy can compensate for funding gaps and support most vulnerable students in equitable ways.
Antoine Vaccaro est un spécialiste français de la levée de fonds et de la philanthropie. Il est également le président du CerPhi, le premier institut d’étude et de recherche français dédié à l’étude de la philanthropie, et de Faircom, un groupe international d’agences spécialisées dans la levée de fonds au service de plus de 100 organisations caritatives.
Continue readingElizabeth R. Bruce wrote a wonderful review of my book, Unequal Partners: American Foundations and Higher Education Development in Africa in the Harvard Africa Policy Journal (Spring 2018). it is a publication dedicated to promoting dialogue about African policy and current affairs in the realms of governance, law, education, business, health, design, and culture.
I recently took part in a panel on philanthropy and education during the annual conference of the Comparative and International Education Society in Mexico City (CIES 2018), Re-Mapping Global Education: South-North Dialogue. The panel focused on the interplay at both policy and delivery level between the public sector and the philanthropic one. Funding to higher education is dependent on both national and global shifts in the grantors’ country, and in the receptiveness of African governments and institutions to the modalities of private funding. Neo-liberal trends influencing foundations have promoted the notion of the knowledge economy, which sees higher education as crucial for economic growth.
Continue readingMy first talk in French in a long while was at Fordham University where I was invited to present my new book, Partenaires inégaux : fondations américaines et universités en Afrique (Fondation maison des sciences de l’homme), to students in international relations and French studies.
