As The Education Collaborative counts down to its East Africa Hub Convening in Nairobi this October, we revisit a conversation with Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi, Vice-Chancellor of United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa), on the power of collaboration, the progress of the Hub and the role of technology in shaping the future of higher education. The conversation took place during the Collaborative’s most recent June Convening, held in Kigali, Rwanda.
Hosted by USIU-Africa, this year’s Convening marks five years since the formation of The Education Collaborative‘s East Africa Hub.
“You are not alone. Seek others. Don’t walk alone. Walk with others.”
It is a simple message, but one that captures Prof. Mwenda Ntarangwi’s view of collaboration in African higher education – and his own journey. Over three decades, he has taught and researched across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and the US, and once led Kenya’s Commission for University Education before becoming Vice-Chancellor at USIU-Africa.
“I was regulating universities in Kenya,” he says with a laugh, “and now I’m being regularly regulated.”
That mix of teaching, research and regulation has shaped how he sees The Education Collaborative’s core philosophy: that universities have more to gain from sharing than from competing.
“We believe in the philosophy behind the Collaborative, which is sharing best practices. I think the idea that we stop seeing each other as competitors and as collaborators helps a lot.”
In Prof. Mwenda’s view, collaboration gives institutions a chance to step outside their daily routines and see their own work through someone else’s eyes. It also helps universities recognize that, despite operating in different countries and contexts, many of the challenges they face are remarkably similar.
At USIU-Africa, where students from 46 African countries study side by side, that lesson lands close to home. Conversations with sister institutions across the continent, he noted, keep circling back to the same questions: how to support students, build entrepreneurial thinking, and get graduates ready for a world that keeps shifting under them.
“We want to share with our colleagues what we have learned, what others are doing, and how we can make our work better because of learning from each other,” he adds.
That spirit of shared learning returns when members of the East Africa Hub gather in Nairobi, Kenya, from October 1-2 for the upcoming Hub Convening, themed Students First: Advancing Sustainable, Tech-Enabled Campuses for Equitable & Transformative Student Outcomes.
Reflecting on the Hub’s progress, Prof. Mwenda points to the value of finding common ground and then learning from where institutions differ. He also commends the Hub’s work in advancing student and faculty mobility across East Africa and calls for the practice to be further expanded, so that more students can, for example, spend a semester in Nairobi without losing time or academic credits.
Technology – and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in particular – is the other constant in these conversations. Prof. Mwenda believes AI is already challenging universities to reconsider what they teach and why.
“If you’re teaching for information, AI can give you information. If you’re teaching for transformation, then AI is a partner that you walk along.”
At USIU-Africa, that thinking is already shaping decisions. Following past Collaborative gatherings, the university settled on three priorities: sharpening its institutional approach to AI, using data more deliberately to guide decisions, and pushing entrepreneurial thinking into teaching, student services, and research alike.
As the East Africa Hub prepares to meet again, Prof. Mwenda’s closing words double as an invitation.
“Don’t walk alone,” he urges. “Walk with others.”
Watch Prof. Mwenda’s interview in full here:
Interested in attending the East Africa Hub Convening? Learn more here.