Reports

From May 26 -30^th, 2025, PhD student in CLM, Joy Oba, was nominated and accepted to attend the UNILAG 2025 Doctoral Academy at the RICE 360 Design Studio, University of Lagos. The theme of the event was Empowering the Next Generation of African Research Leaders in a Digital World.  Prof. Matthew (Bristol Doctoral Academy) delivered a keynote on “Changing Africa’s Development Trajectory through Impact-Driven Doctoral Research in the Era of Digital Evolution.” He emphasized the need for relevance, practical application, and digital integration in African doctoral research.

Other sessions addressed: Leadership in Academia vs. Industry; Resilience and Impact in Academia; Research Design, Problem Identification & Innovation; Writing for High-Impact Journals & Academic Peer Review; Research Ethics, Integrity & Collaboration; the Key Takeaway from the academy was : Doctoral researchers must shift from academic isolation to innovation, industry collaboration, and policy influence. The core message: Research must be purposeful, practical, and transformative — shaping both the present and future generations. Joy reports that she benefited greatly from the opportunity to connect with fellow doctoral students and leading scholars from across Africa, and she built meaningful networks for future collaborations.

The Afretec Network Principal Investigators Meeting was held from June 2-4, 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University -Africa.

This was the first meeting where research teams, comprised of researchers from partner institutions across the network, presented their work over the first two years of funding. Wits researchers were all represented at the meeting.

The following papers with Wits representation, were on the programme.

1. Low-Cost, Accessible Biotechnologies for African Hair and Dark Skin Colours presented by Assane Gueye (Carnegie Mellon University Africa) with co-researcher, Dr Zipora Katz from Wits.
2. Towards IoT-Enabled Privacy-Preserving Large-Scale Healthcare Analytics in Africa: A Use Case on Monitoring a cardiovascular disease, presented by Tamer ElBatt (American University in Cairo), with co-researchers Prof Turgay Celik and Dr Dineo Mpanya from Wits.   
3. Improving Digital Education and Learning Innovation in the South African and Rwandan Teacher Education Systems: Towards Bridging a Digital Knowledge Divide in Africa, presented by Juliet Perumal (University of the Witwatersrand).
4. Evaluating Digital Transformation and Maturity in Youth-Led Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises across Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Study in the Health, Energy, Environment and Sustainability Sectors in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, presented by Stephen Odock (University of the Witwatersrand).
5. Culturally Sensitive Social Robotics for Africa, presented by David Vernon (Carnegie Mellon University Africa), with co-researcher, Dr Pravesh Ranchod from Wits.
6. Finia: Financial Inclusion via Novel Intelligence and Alternative Data, presented by Chimwemwe Chipeta (University of the Witwatersrand).
7. Deep Learning Driven Multiplexed Prospectivity Modeling of Rare Earths in Radiothermic Carbonatites, presented by Hudson Kalambuka Angeyo (University of Nairobi) , with co-researcher Prof Iyabo Usman from Wits.
8. Jessica Steinkopf (University of the Witwatersrand) presented on the work of the ion Sustainability and Environment Cluster within the Knowledge Creation pillar.

Muhammed Suleman, Lecturer in the School of Architecture and Planning attended a Capacity-Building Workshop on Enhancing Sustainable Urban Accessibility and Mobility in Senegal through AI, which was held in Dakar between 11 and 13 June 2025. The workshop brought together a diverse group of participants and experts – academics, public officials, students and consultants, creating a dynamic platform for learning, sharing, and collaboration.

Through the intensive 3 days of the workshop, I gained valuable insights into the application of Artificial Intelligence in addressing urban mobility challenges, particularly within the African context. The sessions were thought-provoking and highly relevant, shedding light on innovative approaches that can drive sustainable development in our cities.

Dr Magdeline Stephen and Dr Portia Mabenge attended the Design Science in the Age of Ai: Research and Pedagogy Workshop held at UCAD, Senegal, in June. The workshop was based on promoting/implementing a design science approach, incorporating AI. The focus was on assisting attendees to work together within different disciplines to develop research proposals that would be acceptable to AFRETEC in February 2026.

The proposals should aim to solve African problems of interest to AFRETEC such sustainability. Several exercises assisted participants to develop research problems that were business orientated to fit into the AFRETEC goals. Groups of participants started different project which they are currently working on.

The groups meet according to a specific plan. Drs Stephen and Mabenge belong to group B, whose focus is to redesign or design a course, using the design science approach. The course should be sustainable and promote employability of graduates within institutions of higher learning in Africa.

Shirona Patel participated in the Digital Humanism Summer School (MAADILI) which took place from 13 – 18 July 2025 at the Carnegie Mellon University in Kigali, Rwanda. The program served as an intersection between the humanities, science, ICT, and new digital technologies. The crux of the five-day program was to imagine ways in which humans could better use and interact with new digital technologies,  the risks and opportunities associated with such technologies, the need for more cross-, trans-, and interdisciplinary research and engagement between different fields of study, and the need for a cohesive response to new AI technologies from the African continent. There was a strong focus on the digital divide, and the potential for bridging that gap, including an emphasis on ethics and governance across the continent, new AI policies adopted in the EU and around the world, the need for fact-checking, algorithm bias, developing and training large language models in multiple languages, and integrating AI and technology into healthcare systems whilst maintaining patient confidentiality.

Mr Tshegofatso Mogaladi (Deputy Dean of Student Affairs) attended the Carnegie Mellon Africa (CMU-Africa) Techskills Marketplace Workshop in Kigali from 26–27 June 2025. He was accompanied by Ms. Neo Tiamo, Senior Program Advisor, who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the E-Hub and the implementation of the Student Entrepreneurship Education Development (SEED) programme. The workshop brought together AFRETEC network institutions to share experiences, achievements, and challenges in implementing the Techskills Marketplace program, while also engaging in sustainability and planning for the next funding cycle. At the workshop, Mr Mogaladi delivered a presentation outlining Wits’ experience with the e programme highlighting the following achievements:

• Startup Participation: Six tech startups were successfully recruited and remained active for the entire cycle.
• Student Interns recruited: 20 students participated, gaining practical exposure while receiving stipends.  
• Payment System: To mitigate risks, stipend payments were processed centrally through the Wits payroll system on a monthly basis, contingent on verified progress reports.
• Rigorous Recruitment: Both startups and students underwent a thorough recruitment process, which was positively received by workshop participants.
• Wraparound Program: Interns participated in a compulsory wraparound support program grounded in the Fuchs and Fuchs (2006) Response to Intervention (RTI) multi-tiered framework. This model provided group workshops and training interventions, personalised support plans for students with specific needs, holistic attention to students’ wellbeing, academic progress, and personal development. The wraparound support was instrumental in enabling interns to balance academic commitments, personal responsibilities, and workplace demands.

The workshop coincided with a student Makerthon that had been running for a week. This provided an excellent platform for interaction with students, including SEED Nominees (two) who participated in the Makerthon. Two Sol Plaatjie University students who previously engaged in a SEED workshop at Wits, were invited by the Industry Innovation Lab. The CMU-Africa Techskills Marketplace Workshop was a valuable engagement, reinforcing Wits’ commitment to entrepreneurship development through experiential learning opportunities for students. Our presentation was well-received, and the exchange of challenges and strategies with peer institutions affirmed the shared realities of program implementation.

The key outputs particularly around sustainability, activity planning, and reporting alignment will be instrumental in strengthening the program in the next cycle. Importantly, the workshop reaffirmed the role of wraparound student support as a cornerstone for balancing academic, personal, and professional demands within the Techskills Marketplace initiative.