In Nairobi, university leaders ask: are our campuses built for students?

Too often, students bend to fit the university rather than the other way round. That was the uncomfortable idea at the heart of a two-day gathering in Nairobi that opened on 1 October.

More than 150 people from over 30 institutions in 10 countries came to the Education Collaborative’s East Africa Hub convening, hosted by United States International University-Africa. It was the hub’s fourth convening, in its fifth year, with more than 40 speakers and facilitators, the Collaborative said in its write-up on 10 October.

Promises that were kept

Unusually for a conference, there was a scorecard. Member institutions made 213 commitments between 2022 and 2024, and nearly 90% of those made in 2024 had been completed. That work has produced six campus-wide systems, covering career services, electronic internships and support for student entrepreneurs, reaching more than 34,000 students.

Dr George Mugabe, director of the East Africa Hub, put the follow-through down to accountability: commitments are tracked, shared and revisited, and peers expect delivery. Bigger, systemic commitments were completed more often than small ones, the Collaborative noted.

Technology, but for whom?

USIU-Africa vice-chancellor Professor Mwenda Ntarangwi opened the meeting. Throughout, participants judged technology by one test: does it make a student’s journey through university easier?

Related reporting: Five African universities to test AI on their own campuses.