Students during a practical session in a laboratory at one of the centers run by The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences.
The African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), will early next year relocate its continental headquarters to Rwanda, its founder, Prof. Neil Turok announced Tuesday in Kigali.
He said Rwanda has exceptional achievements over the last two decades and established itself as an ideal destination for sciences on the continent.
“We decided to move AIMS headquarters to Rwanda from South Africa. We find Rwanda an ideal place to create a center for neighbouring young Africans to become scientific and technological leaders,” Turok said after meeting President Paul Kagame at his office.
Turok believes that the environment in Rwanda will enable the centre to “attract our partners from all over the world to come and start companies, and make scientific discoveries.”
Speaking to KT Press, Prof. Turok said his organization wants to contribute to President Kagame’s vision.
AIMS, a Pan-African network of centres of excellence for postgraduate education, research and outreach in mathematical sciences, is currently based in Cape Town, South Africa, with subsidiary centres in Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon, and Tanzania.
Established in 2003, the organization is a joint project of six global renowned universities of Cambridge, Cape Town, Oxford, Paris Sud XI, Stellenbosch, and Western Cape University.
The organization promotes mathematics and science in Africa, by recruiting and training talented students and teachers to build capacity for African initiatives in education, research, and technology.
President Kagame has put science and ICT at the forefront of his government’s development agenda.
Preparations for relocation of the academic center are in the final stages. “It’s a pleasure that AIMS discovered our government’s efforts in promoting sciences,” said education Minister Papius Musafiri.
Rwanda is already enjoying strong partnership with US-based Carnegie Mellon University- which established its only African subsidiary in the country.
More than 43 Rwandan students have graduated with post-graduate honours in engineering and sciences at the world class science institution since 2012.
In 2011, through collaboration with Rwanda and Carnegie Mellon University, the African Development Bank (AfDB) invested $100 million to establish three ICT centres of excellence in Rwanda, Mali and Tunisia.
Rwanda’s centre would carry out advanced postgraduate education and research based on Carnegie Mellon University’s curriculum.
Meanwhile, for Prof. Turok, “We want to work with Rwanda to realise its role as an African hub for Science, Technology and innovation.”
