Afretec Network holds fifth annual conference

Nov 9, 2026

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More than 120 higher education leaders, faculty, and students from ten educational institutions recently gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for the fifth annual conference of the African Engineering and Technology Network (Afretec). The conference was hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand.

Afretec, a pan-African collaboration of technology-focused universities working together to drive the inclusive digital growth of Africa, meets annually to strengthen cross-country and cross-institutional collaboration. The network is led by Carnegie Mellon University Africa.

An African man standing at a podium. You can see the backs of some of the attentive audience's heads.

Nithaya Chetty, dean of the Faculty of Science at University of the Witwatersrand, giving opening remarks

In his opening address, Nithaya Chetty, dean of the Faculty of Science at University of the Witwatersrand, 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.

For the conference host university, those accomplishments include 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 programs.

Led by CMU-Africa, the Afretec Network includes ten member universities:

  • Carnegie Mellon University Africa (Rwanda)
  • Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (Ethiopia)
  • 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)

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.

Tim Brown at a podium

Tim Brown, director of CMU-Africa, giving opening remarks

Afretec works in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. In welcoming the delegates, Adrian Bukenya, senior director of Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programs, 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.”

  • Four students standing in front of a University of Witwatersrand banner
  • A woman with her arm around another women. Both of them are laughing and smiling.
  • Two men and a woman chatting at the conference
  • A woman in pink stands at a podium while a room of people listen to her
  • Three people on a panel at the conference. One of the women is holding a microphone.
  • A row of people sitting at the conference

    • The 5-day conference program 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.

    This article is adapted from a story written by the University of Witwatersrand.