2023 – Academia-Public–Private-Partnership Forum (APPPF)

The APPPF is an annual event organized by IUCEA in collaboration with various partners and is hosted on a rotational basis in the East Africa Community (EAC) Partner States. The 12th APPPF-2023 under the theme “Nurturing Sustainable Skills Development for Graduate Employability Through Academia-Industry Partnerships” will be held on 15th -17th March 2023 in Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania. 

Youth unemployment is a major challenge, which is of global concern. According to International Labour Organisation (ILO)¹, Africa youth unemployment rate in 2021 was at 10.6%. The continent is facing an increasing percentage of young people who are finding themselves Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), with a NEET rate of 20.8% in 2021. There is therefore increasing need to improve youth employability in the complex and dynamic world of ever-changing job market, employer expectations and emerging technologies. The most glaring fact is that it is estimated that annually, about 10-11 million youth in Africa enter the job market, but only 3 million formal jobs are created every year (African Union 2018). This therefore calls for the need of forging out partnerships and concerted efforts amongst the training institutions and the labour market to develop strategies that will bridge the existing skills mismatch between the producers and consumers. 

The African Union (AU) Agenda 2063, foresees a continent with well-educated citizens and skills revolution, which is underpinned by science, technology and innovation as multi-function tools and enablers for achieving continental development goals. Further, in the aspiration for people-driven development, the AU Agenda foresees a continent whose citizens, including the youth are well-engaged and empowered.  

In the region, the East African Community’s (EAC) Vision 2050 recognizes the increasing unemployment especially among the youth, low investment in research and development, low level of industrialization and lack of competitiveness, as among the vital development challenges. To address these challenges among others, the Vision emphasizes science, technology and innovation (STI) as one of the key drivers for sustainable socio-economic development. The Vision further highlights the significance of higher education and calls on higher education institutions to mainstream research and innovation towards socio-economic transformation of the region. Provision of sustainable skills development coupled with supportive enabling environment for quality education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship will accelerate growth and sustainable socio-economic development in the EAC.  

The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) strategic blueprint (2021-2026) is built around the main goal of “transformative higher education for a globally competitive knowledge-based and industrialised economy for an integrated EAC”. In its initiatives, IUCEA is promoting inclusive and equitable quality education, development of research and innovation regional centres of excellence, fostering transformation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and scaling up opportunities for regional and global networks and collaborations. These initiatives are intended to build critical and relevant skills in priority sectors of the economy, balance knowledge generation, innovative entrepreneurship and productivity, and build productive partnerships that foster practical responsiveness to enhance sustainable skills development and knowledge sharing across borders.  

Under the overarching theme of “Nurturing Sustainable Skills Development for Youth Employability Through Academia-Industry Partnerships”, the 12^th APPPF-2023 is undertaking to provide a platform to share experiences and showcase the success of collaborative initiatives from entrepreneurs, manufacturers, academia, researchers, trainers and policy makers. The forum will also provide an opportunity to build networks and partnerships that will inspire synergies and joint future ventures among different actors for sustainable regional development and integration. The forum shall consist of exhibitions, panel discussions, plenary keynote presentation and a high-level interaction session with partners. The panel and plenary sessions will be structured into five sub-themes namely;  

• Skills Development for Youth Employability
• Academia-Industry Partnership: Experiences and Practices
• Innovation and Technology Transfer Practices
• Nurturing Youth Talent and Catalysing Digital Skills
• Intellectual Property (IP) Management and Harnessing Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Knowledge

The forum will bring together industry players, entrepreneurs, policy makers, innovators, entrepreneurship Support Organisations (ESOs), research and innovation managers, researchers, university leaders and development partners.