Afretec Conference 2026 fosters stronger collaboration
- Wits University
5th Afretec Conference held at Wits reflects on another year of remarkable achievements for network collaboration.
Afretec Conference 2026 fosters stronger collaboration
5th Afretec Conference held at Wits reflects on another year of remarkable achievements for network collaboration.
More than 120 higher education leaders, scholars and students from 10 educational institutions across Africa, including Wits University, gathered at the University from 25 to 29 October 2026 for the African Engineering and Technology (Afretec) Network’s annual conference.
Afretec, a pan-African collaboration of technology-focused universities working together to drive the inclusive digital growth of Africa, annually meet to strengthen cross-country and cross-institutional collaboration.
In his opening address, Professor Nithaya Chetty, Dean of the Wits Faculty of Science, said that Afretec is a visionary initiative that has begun to bear incredible fruit and great accomplishments. He commended the partnerships that have been fostered and commented on the importance of digital technologies to strengthen Africa’s research and innovation capacity.
Some of those accomplishments include Wits establishing a flexible-admissions Data Science Diploma that produced a majority female bursary cohort without any gender-based criterion, prompting a review of admissions policy for other graduate programmes.
Founded and led by Carnegie Mellon University Africa (CMU-Africa) in Rwanda, the Afretec network comprises 10 member universities:
- Carnegie Mellon University Africa (Rwanda)
- Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (Ethiopia) — 10th and newest partner
- Agostinho Neto University (Angola)
- Al Akhawayn University (Morocco)
- The American University in Cairo (Egypt)
- Université Cheikh Anta Diop (Senegal)
- University of Lagos (Nigeria)
- University of Nairobi (Kenya)
- University of Rwanda (Rwanda)
- University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)
Professor Tim Brown, Director of CMU-Africa, said in his opening remarks that Afretec started from a simple notion that Africa’s digital transformation will be driven by engineers and technologists, and that for transformation to succeed, Africa needs to train them to be technology leaders who can lead the teams, provide skilled technical capacity and who can get the job done.
Investment
The Mastercard Foundation provides core funding and large-scale investment to support the network's mission. In welcoming the delegates, Adrian Bukenya, Senior Director, Scholars Program at the Mastercard Foundation, said African institutions, youth, and cross‑disciplinary networks must collaborate to build inclusive digital futures.
“The value of the Afretec lies not only in what each institution delivers, but also what the network makes possible across the institutions, sharing learning, mobility, joint research, stronger teaching, common platforms, and solutions that travel while remaining responsive to local context.”
“Africa's inclusive digital future will not be imported fully. It will be engineered here through African institutions, African evidence, African innovation, and the leadership of Africa's young people.”
The 5-day programme covered important themes for the network, including a panel discussion on building fundraising capacity that works, chaired by Pamela Agar, Co-Executive Director of Europe for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The panel discussed shared lessons from African institutions that have successfully built fundraising programmes, highlighting the success factors, challenges, and adaptable approaches that can help institutions strengthen their advancement and fundraising capacity.
Wits and Afretec
Professor Heila Jordaan, Wits University’s project leader at Afretec and organiser of the conference, said Afretec has “made significant progress. It has matured as a network and is doing very important work across the continent in terms of developing the digital economy”.
This is the first time Wits is hosting the conference, and Jordaan said it was most rewarding to hear from participants expressing appreciation and absolute awe about Wits. “As a proud Witsie, this makes me very happy.”
She also commended the Wits leadership, including Professors Ruksana Osman, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Academic, and Chetty, who supported her in working with Afretec to make the conference a success.
“It was very important for Afretec participants to experience Wits as a partner and as a world-class university. This certainly came across very clearly,” she said.