Mount Kenya University expands her footprints in the East African region
BY EVANS ONGWAE
East African nations and institutions should help the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) develop the human capital it needs to unlock its potential. This is a call by Mount Kenya University’s (MKU’s) Pro-Chancellor, Dr Vincent Gaitho.
The don urges the region to support peace efforts so as to create a conducive environment for institutions to invest in the country’s higher education sector.
MKU is among higher education institutions already developing DRC’s human resource capacity.
For several years now, MKU has been training DRC students at its main campus in Thika, Kenya; at its Rwanda campus in Kigali; and also online through its Open, Distance and electronic Learning (ODeL) modules.
With campuses in Kenya and Rwanda; as well as country offices in Kampala in Uganda, Bujumbura in Burundi, Hargeisa in Somaliland and Garowe in Puntland, MKU has an enviable regional footprint.
Dr Gaitho says: “Education thrives best in a peaceful environment. In addition, DRC needs more internet connectivity, to boost online delivery of education.”
Towards the end of 2021, the Kenya and DRC governments through Equity Bank, supported a bilateral programme dubbed ’Kenya-DRC Trade Mission’. More than 200 businesspeople and industry champions toured DRC cities of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Goma and Mbuji-Mayi to map out opportunities for trade and investment.
Dr Gaitho visited DRC in 2021 as part of a Kenyan trade mission.
Says the don: “I was honoured to join the delegation and observed DRC as a potential market for East Africa’s Higher Education Sector.”
He adds that, as the second largest country in Africa and 11th largest in the world, and with a population of more than 108 million people, DRC, brings into the EAC a large basket of opportunities. “Indeed, DRC’s membership has made the EAC a transcontinental enclave linking the Indian and Atlantic oceans,” Dr Gaitho points out.
He adds: “DRC makes the EAC the single largest economic bloc in Africa.”
Dr Gaitho contends that the entry of DRC into the EAC is of great importance to the Higher Education Sector than ever before.
He, however, insists that, being a French speaking country, DRC will require to seamlessly integrate into EAC by embracing common languages. “It is therefore an opportunity for the entire education sector to support the spread and use of common languages in the region through teaching and training,” says the MKU Pro-Chancellor, adding that the region’s Higher Education Sector must urgently respond to this need.
He argues that a big challenge facing Africa and DRC in particular, is lack of sufficient technological capacities to harness resources and necessary qualified-skilled workforce.
However, Dr Gaitho considers a deficiency in technological capacity and human resource as an opportunity for growth and development. “The demand-supply dichotomy offers a huge opportunity for research and innovation, and training of human capacities in Africa and DRC in particular,” says the don.
Dr Gaitho urges the Government of DRC to put every effort in place to guarantee a conducive environment for education based investments.
He adds that the African nation should take note of the key lesson learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic: That internet connectivity is a necessary highway through which educational services can be accessed.
Dr Gaitho says following the Kenya-DRC Trade Mission, it was found that DRC is in need of support especially in training skilled workforce needed to harness the wealth spread across the country.
“Kenya’s embassy in Kinshasa and the trade attaché based in Goma manifest the Government of Kenya’s willingness to make DRC the next trade and investment frontier,” says the MKU Pro-Chancellor.
He points out that the University’s academic programmes are innovative and responsive to the immediate and long-term scientific and technological needs of the countries in which it operates.
MKU is ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management System certified. It is also a member of: Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), Association of African Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities, and Talloires Network of Engaged Universities, Association of Africa Business Schools, Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business and United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and UNAI SDG 10: Reduced inequalities Hub.
