Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa: International Conference by CEPU (Collaboration for Entrepreneurial Universities) and DEpUK ( Developing Entrepreneurial Universities in Kenya), funded by DAAD

High unemployment rates among university graduates are a major problem in many African countries. Higher education institutions could tackle the issue by focussing more on applied education, and by adjusting their teaching and research more closely to the needs of the labour market in general. Accordingly, there is high demand at many African universities to establish structures and offerings that are aligned with the needs of the labour market and thus offer better employment prospects for their graduates.

DAAD with its funding programme Entrepreneurial Universities in Africa (EpU) aims at the promotion of entrepreneurial thinking, teaching and acting at the partner universities. Also institutional changes in the structures and offerings of the participating institutions are supposed to act as key indicators for the development towards “entrepreneurial universities.

Since 2018, the DAAD supports with EpU the labour market and employability orientation of HEIs in Africa. During the four years funding of the projects CEPU (Collaboration for Entrepreneurial Universities), leading by university of applied science Bonn Rhein Sieg with a consortia of German and Kenyan partner universities and DEpUK (Developing Entrepreneurial Universities in Kenya), leading by University of Saarland as well with a consortia of German and Kenyan universities have achieved a lot despite the Corona pandemic .

The conference is part of the DAAD funded project and was a showcase for the activities and achievements in the projects:

CEPU has provided Kenyan teachers with further training in the area of didactics through its “Job Shadowing Programme”.
33 workshops on entrepreneurship have already been staged thanks to CEPU and more than 750 people took part in these workshops.
Courses with 200 participants – mostly students, but also teachers- have taken part in STEP (“Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion”) programmes, developed by Leuphana University
With these measures CEPU was able to foster a climate of innovation that is having a positive impact on the employment market and on a future-ready corporate culture.

DEPUK promotes entrepreneurial activity for students, university staff and university management in Kenya and Germany through

start-up Weekends
strategic workshops
project management workshops
learning about pitch and presentation
workshops for a business plan school

DAAD congratulate the project partners on these successes and thanks for the work, patience and efforts in these difficult times due to the pandemic with unplanning, travel restrictions.

You are interested in learning more about DAAD funding opportunities for university cooperation projects?

Please find further information on: Funding for Institutional Cooperation | DAAD Kenya