The creation of a continental university as a centre of innovation and academic excellence was recommended by the Pan African Parliament (PAP) on Friday, the final day of its fourth ordinary session in Midrand.
”We need to have Africans educated and trained in science and technology and information technology,” MP Miria Matembe told reporters at the conclusion of the session.
”Human-resource development is important for Africa. Other countries are advancing because of technological advances. We, too, can do our own research, innovation and technological invention.”
The practical workings of such an institution have yet to be figured out, Matembe said.
A documented resolution adopted by the PAP states the university would seek to make available a ”unified science platform” and serve as a centre of expertise for the African Union.
It would aim to halt the African brain drain, coordinate research and boost African solidarity.
The university would empower African leaders, thereby strengthening the AU in the run-up to the envisaged creation of a ”United States of Africa”, the document states.
Another mission is to ”develop programmes likely to make African identity concepts a reality and guarantee the acceleration of the necessary integration to bring about a unified Africa with a single image”. — Sapa