Team From University Of Rwanda Visits GCTU
On Friday, 23rd June 2023, GCTU welcomed a team from the University of Rwanda for a series of engagements with Management and the Office of Research, Innovation and Consultancy (ORIC).
During a preliminary meeting chaired by the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Robert Ebo Hinson, the team from the University of Rwanda took the opportunity to introduce themselves, providing details of their various designations and roles at the University.
The team from Rwanda was made up of following:
- Emmauel Nkurikiyimana-Chief Finance Officer
- Immaculate Bugingo- Coordinator of Single Project Implementation
- Kevin Ganza-Advisor to Vice-Chancellor
In addition to Prof. Hinson, GCTU was represented by the Registrar, Mr. Emmanuel Baidoo, the Director of Finance. Mr. Emmanuel Apraku, the Director of ORIC, Prof. George Amoako, as well as Dr. Esi Akyere, Dr. Mohammed Musah, Dr. Doreen Anyamesem Odame, Mrs. Faustina Amanor-Odametey and Mr. Prince Agbelengor, who was directly responsible for facilitating the engagement with the team from the University of Rwanda.
The meeting officially began with a few words from Prof. Hinson, who highlighted the importance of collaborations and partnerships in the development of Universities, especially in Africa.
According to Prof. Hinson, “Universities grow through collaborations and partnerships and even though international collaborations are important, partnerships between African Universities are key.” He registered his excitement at the potential of the partnership between GCTU and the University of Rwanda, and he gave his assurance that our University would provide the team from Rwanda with all the support they would need during their stay and beyond.
Following on from Prof. Hinson’s address, the team from the University of Rwanda also communicated their anticipation at what they believe will be a uniquely fruitful and sustainable relationship between the two Universities. They specified that their primary objective was to gain in-depth insights into key aspects of research such as grant writing, proposal development and fundraising.
The leader of their contingent, Mr. Nkurikiyimana, spoke about the motivation for partnering with GCTU, saying, “When we found out that there was a University in Ghana focused on IT, we wanted to come and learn from you, especially regarding the way you use internet in all your functions.
We want to observe your best practices and incorporate them into the way we implement our various projects”. In addition, another member of the team, Ms. Bugingo, also made special mention of GCTU’s Innovation hub, stating that they were keen to get a first-hand experience of how it is run so they could hopefully replicate it at their University.
The Pro-VC assured the team from the University of Rwanda that they would definitely benefit from the expertise on offer at GCTU. He emphasized his belief that, while grants and research are essential to University development, the fundamental components of sustainable growth are networks and connections.
He said, “The human connection is the most important result of any collaboration. It is from this that development will be initiated; academic progress is primarily about mutual collaboration” The Registrar, Mr. Baidoo, reiterated the Pro-VC’s assertion, adding that “Nobody is an island; research is key in any academic institution and must be driven through collaborations; collaborations are the starting point of all grants, staff-student exchanges and human resource development” He concluded by giving his assurance that his office would provide the requisite administrative support and would ensure that the relationship between the two universities would be a success.
The Pro-VC ended the meeting by tasking ORIC to hold further interactions with the University of Rwanda team to iron out the specifics of the collaboration and facilitate any additional support they would need. Without a doubt, the fact that GCTU has been identified by another African University provides credence to the institution’s growing reputation.
We are exceedingly proud of our status as a premier ICT and research-based University, and we hope that we will continue to foster similar collaborations as we seek to cement our place among Africa’s best Universities.
