On her trip to Kenya and Tanzania, Ms Hirayama will be accompanied by a high-level Swiss scientific delegation. The aim of the trip is to strengthen and expand existing cooperation in education, research and innovation (ERI). The MoU between the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research and the Kenyan Ministry of Education will play a significant role in achieving this aim. The University of Bern's Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) will also formalise a new basis for its long-standing partnership with the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in Arid and Semi-arid Lands Development (CETRAD), in collaboration with the University of Nairobi and the Kenyan government.
Potential for future cooperation
In Tanzania, the programme includes a visit to a site run by the Ifakara Health Institute and talks with the Tanzanian Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Adolf Mkenda. These meetings will provide an opportunity to discuss bilateral scientific ties and related prospects.
The itinerary will also include visits to research and higher education institutions and start-ups, which will enable the delegation to gain better insight into the ERI landscape in the two countries and to identify potential for future cooperation.
Existing cooperation in education, research and innovation
Swiss ERI stakeholders work with partners in Kenya and Tanzania within the context of competitively awarded bilateral and multilateral instruments. The Confederation designated the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), in cooperation with the University of Basel, as the Leading House for the Sub-Saharan Africa region for the years 2021-2024. This mandate will continue in 2025-2028. Within this framework, Swiss TPH offers a range of instruments to support bilateral research and innovation cooperation.
Swiss Government Excellence Scholarships are a further means of support. To date, almost 60 of these scholarships have been awarded to Kenya and around 50 to Tanzania. Cooperation on research projects takes place through a number of programmes, such as Excellence in Africa at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). Between 2018 and 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) funded almost 50 joint Swiss-Kenyan research projects and 35 joint Swiss-Tanzanian research projects.
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