Grant Makers Pledge $200-Million to Improve African Colleges and Universities

Six of the wealthiest U.S. foundations have pledged to provide $200-million over five years to improve colleges and

universities in Africa to support what they described as a “quiet revolution” in the continent’s academic resources.

The commitment, which is an expansion of a partnership established five years ago, will seek to strengthen higher-education institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda by expanding their Internet capabilities, developing regional connections to share research and training capacity, and training senior administrators to strengthen university management.

The Carnegie Corporation of New York; the Ford Foundation, in New York; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, in Chicago; and the Rockefeller Foundation, in New York, first joined together to help the continent as the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa.

Since 2000 the philanthropies have spent $150-million to establish the Journal of Higher Education in Africa, awarding almost 1,000 academic scholarships to women, and creating a graduate health program for the countries’ public officials.

This year the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in New York, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, in Menlo Park, Calif., joined the collective effort.

The partnership “represents our commitment to Africa’s next generation of leaders, who deserve an exemplary education to prepare them to help set the course for their nations’ futures,” said Vartan Gregorian, president of the Carnegie Corporation.

Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation, said she expected her organization and other grant makers to increase their giving to the continent in the future because a growing number of African nations are experiencing political stability.

The $200-million pledge was announced this month at the Ford Foundation’s New York headquarters to coincide with the gathering of world leaders in the city at the United Nations and elsewhere to discuss global poverty, environmental issues, and other pressing social ills.