Panoramic view of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sub-Saharan Africa

U of T is proud of and enjoys a longstanding history of engagement with countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is an area of increasingly strong focus for us for collaboration and co-creation. 

Partnerships in the Region

U of T collaborates with Sub-Saharan African institutions through co-design and co-teaching of academic programs, research collaborations, and a large number of varying global learning opportunities. This engagement is continuously growing as we welcome more and more students from Africa to U of T and benefit from continuous growth in the number of alumni in the region.

U of T has established staff presence in Nairobi, Accra, and Cape Town with a focus on a jointly-developed Health Collaborative with 8 African partners. This local presence allows us to deepen our activities and engagement on the continent and to foster lasting people-to-people connections. 

U of T’s focused engagement in and commitment to Sub-Saharan Africa is guided, in part, by the President’s International Council for Engagement with Africa which is comprised of U of T faculty with strong expertise in the region.

skyline view of sub saharan africa

  • 587

    Degree students

    (Fall 2022)

  • 994

    Alumni

    (August 2023)

  • 1118

    (2018 – 2022)

    Joint publications

Partnership Highlights

Africa Higher Education Health Collaborative

Since 2021, U of T is partnering with the Mastercard Foundation and 8 leading African Institutions, including Amref International University, Addis Ababa University (AAU), African Leadership University (ALU), African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), Ashesi University, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST), Moi University and University of Cape Town (UCT). Through this partnership, U of T supports the strengthening of health sectors in various African countries, starting in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. Our collective goal is to improve quality healthcare delivery, and create economic growth for African youth in primary healthcare, with a focus on women.

Over a course of ten years the Collaborative will, as a network, develop a suite of programs that focuses on, (1) Health Employment – building and strengthening the capacity of healthcare students and professionals to meet the growing demand for primary health care (PHC); (2) Health Entrepreneurship – optimizing the entrepreneurial ecosystems in and through African universities to support young people to launch and scale health startups and create jobs, and; (3) Health Ecosystems – enabling students to acquire advanced skills across a broad range of disciplines critical for sustainable development and growth in health sectors.

Toronto Addis Ababa Academic Collaboration (TAAAC)

The partnership between Addis Ababa University (AAU) and U of T was established in 2003 to build academic capacity and reduce brain-drain. Under the leadership of AAU faculty, U of T faculty members instruct and supervise students, provide clinical supervision and teach imperative technical skills. Once their training is completed, AAU graduates are hired and expand faculties at AAU and new universities while taking on added responsibilities, allowing each program to replicate itself locally.

As of 2018, TAAAC has trained 250+ professionals with more than 90% remaining in Ethiopia; in contrast, typically 80% of other physicians and health care workers not trained through TAAAC have either migrated out of the country or out of the public health system.

 

 

 

The Africa Charter on Transformative Research Collaborations

In July 2023, a group of 100 universities in Africa and beyond, including the University of Toronto, committed to the Africa Charter on Transformative Research Collaborations.  Co-created by Africa’s major higher education constituencies, the Charter identifies key principles for transformative research collaboration and sets out broad aspirations for change in policy and regulatory frameworks in both Africa as well as by higher education institutions in the North, and by funders globally.

Professor Wisdom Tettey, Vice President and Principal of UTSC and Professor Alexie Tcheuyap, Associate Vice President International Student Experience hosted a fireside chat to discuss what this means for U of T, for other universities, and for partnership development in the Global South.

Watch their conversation. For captions and/or a transcript, please contact international@utoronto.ca.