Today Tuesday 19th November, 2019, I represented the Vice Chancellor, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe at the Town Hall meeting organized by the Alliance for African Partnerships (AAP) founded and hosted at Michigan State University(MSU). The Town Hall meeting was attended by: Hon. Thelma Awori, Honorary Consul of Liberia to Uganda and Chair of the AAP Advisory Board; Prof. Richard Mkandawire, AAP Director for Africa; Prof. Isaac Minde, AAP Regional Coordinator; MSU Representatives, Dr. John Bonnell and Dr. Kate; MSU Fellowship Alumni and Faculty from Makerere University.

Makerere is a founder member of this Consortium that is currently composed of ten member institutions including Michigan State University and nine African universities (Egerton University – Kenya; Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) – Malawi; Makerere University – Uganda; University of Dar es Salaam – Tanzania; Unviersite Cheikh Anta Diop – Senegal; Universite des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de Bamako – Mali; University of Botswana – Botswana; University of Nigeria, Nsukka – Nigeria; and University of Pretoria – South Africa).

In my remarks, I noted that the world is changing. Africa is changing. Therefore, we must evolve and improve the way we work with partners. Through the AAP, we seek to co-create a new model of mutually beneficial collaboration that will not only help us take on today's problems, but better prepare us for tomorrow's challenges as well. Coincidentally, MSU’s land-grant values provide us with a solid framework as we adapt to the changes that are happening in the region. Building on decades of engagement in Africa, MSU through AAP will develop a collaborative and cross-disciplinary platform to join our efforts to address challenges on the continent.

AAP’s priority areas are; Agri-food systems, Water, Energy and Environment, Culture, Youth Empowerment, Education, Health and Nutrition. These are indeed the key focus of our National
Development Plan III.

The meeting provided us with an opportunity to celebrate the successes; discuss the key metrics including the Key Performance Indicators since inception of AAP. In a more broad sense, we need to
adopt the culture of Town hall meetings as a platform to share strategy because as a matter of fact, Africa and its place in the world—and by extension the nature of the relationships between us and MSU —is rapidly shifting.  Today, sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 15% of the world’s population and is projected to quadruple to 4 billion.

African affairs will increasingly affect other areas of the world—economically, politically, demographically, and culturally.  Much of Africa is experiencing urbanization, impressive agricultural dynamism, rapidly changing food systems and diets, and shifts in the labor force into growing non-farm economies. We need the skill to anticipate and respond proactively to these trends.

Lately, like any other institution of its stature, Makerere has become a magnet for international collaborations and benchmark visiting teams. Let us collectively and deliberately continue to protect our premier brand!

Article by Professor Buyinza Mukadasi, Director, DRGT & Focal Person AAP, Makerere University