CHIEF GUEST –  Hon. Lela Muhamed Mussa

Minister of Education and Vocational Training Zanzibar.

The Honourable Lela Muhamed Mussa is currently the Minister of Education and Vocational Training, Zanzibar. Hon. Lela came to the Ministry of Education from the Ministry of Tourism and Heritage, where she had been since 2021. Previously, Hon. Lela had served as Assistant Lecturer and Tutorial Assistant at the Zanzibar State University and Dodoma respectively. Hon. Lela, a CCM House of Representative Member Special Seat (academician) had also worked as a teacher at SOS Herman Gmeiner Secondary School, Zanzibar and Ole Secondary Pemba.  Born in 1982, Hon. Lela eyes to reform the Zanzibar education system to enable the learners to catch up with the changing demands. Hon. Lela holds a master’s degree in education which she obtained from the University of Dodoma.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER –  Prof. Goolam Mohamedbhai

Higher Education in Africa: Quest for Relevance and Impact

Prof.Goolam Mohamedbhai

Prof Goolam Mohamedbhai, who is a Mauritian citizen, did his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Civil Engineering at the University of Manchester, UK. He then, in 1972, joined the University of Mauritius as Lecturer where he spent the rest of his academic career. In 1980, he did his postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley under a Fulbright Fellowship. He served as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius from 1995 to 2005.

 Prof Mohamedbhai was Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities in Accra, Ghana from 2008-2010. He was President of the International Association of Universities from 2004-2008.  He has also served on the Council of the Association of Commonwealth Universities for several years and was its chairperson from 2003-2004.  He was a member of the Governing Council of the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan from 2007-2013.

Prof Mohamedbhai now operates as an independent consultant in higher education, with special interest in Africa. He has widely published on the challenges facing African higher education institutions. Currently, he is a member of the Board of the University World News (Africa); the Advisory Council of the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) International Quality Group (CIQG); and the Advisory Board of the Centre for International Higher Education, Boston College, USA. He also chairs the Regional Steering Committee of the World Bank’s Project on African Centres of Excellence for Eastern and Southern Africa, as well as the Consultative Advisory Group of the World Bank’s Partnership for Applied Sciences, Engineering and Technology (PASET) in Africa project since its inception in 2013.

Prof Mohamedbhai has undertaken consultancies for a number of international organisations and agencies, including Sida of Sweden, the Association of African Universities, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, the Carnegie Foundation of New York, the Leadership Foundation of UK, the World Bank and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

He is the recipient of the 2009 Symons Award from the Association of Commonwealth Universities for outstanding contribution to the ACU and to Commonwealth universities, as well as the 2014 GUNI-Africa and AfriQAN Distinguished Service to Quality Assurance in Higher Education in Africa Award.  He has also been awarded Honorary Doctorates from a couple of universities.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER –  . Prof. Hamed Rashid H. Hakimany

Internationalization of Higher Education and Research in Zanzibar: Achievements, challenges and prospects.

Prof.Hamed Rashid H. Hikmany

Prof. Hamed Rashid H. Hikmany holds the title of Associate Professor of Economics from the International University of Africa in Khartoum, which he attained in 2013. He completed his Ph.D. in Economics of Education at the University of Wales College of Cardiff, UK, in 1990, and his M.A. in Economics of Education at the University of London, UK, in 1987.

Professional Experience: Over his illustrious career, Hamed Rashid H. Hikmany has held various prominent roles. He served as the Acting Vice Chancellor at Abdulrahman Al Sumait University, Zanzibar, from 2014 to 2018, and as the Acting Principal of University College of Education Zanzibar from 2012 to 2014. He also held the position of Deputy Principal for Academic Affairs at University College of Education from 2011 to 2012. In the realm of public service, he served as the Commissioner for National Planning and Sector Development at the Ministry of Finance and Planning from 2008 to 2010 (Mandatory retirement) and as the Project Coordinator for the Ministry of Finance and Planning (UNDP) in Zanzibar from 2005 to 2008. His earlier roles include Director General of the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Agency (1997-2005), Senior Lecturer in Microeconomics at Zanzibar University (part-time) in 1998-1999, and Commissioner for External Finance and International Cooperation at the Ministry of Finance from 1991 to 1996.

Key Appointments: Hamed Rashid H. Hikmany has been entrusted with numerous key appointments over the years. He currently holds the position of Chairman of the Board of Directors at Zanzibar Revenue Authority since 2023. He is also the Chairman of the Government Reform Committee for Wakf and Trust Commission since 2022 and has been serving as Chairman of the Shariah Advisory Committee at PBZ Islamic Banking Division since 2022. His contributions extend to the Zanzibar Law Resource Centre where he served as a Member of the Management Board from 2012 to 2023. In 2020, he took on the role of Deputy Chairman of the Shariah Advisory Committee at PBZ Islamic Banking Division. Moreover, Hamed Rashid H. Hikmany has been the Chairman of the Management Board at Wakf and Trust Commission since 2018. He was a Member of the Senate at Zanzibar University from 2008 to 2021 and a Member of the Higher Council at University College of Education, Zanzibar from 2008 to 2017. His contributions to the State University of Zanzibar include membership in the Council from 2013 to 2015 and the Senate from 2013 to 2015. Additionally, he was a Member of the Council at Muslim University of Morogoro from 2004 to 2014, served on the Senate from 2004 to 2014, and was a part of the Finance and Planning Committee at the university during the same period. His leadership extended to the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation, where he served as Chairman of the Board from 2011 to 2014. Furthermore, he held the position of Deputy Chairman at the Tanzania National Examinations Council from 2001 to 2003 and served as the Chairman of the Zanzibar Library Reform Committee in 2001-2002. He was also the Chairman of the Zanzibar Education Council from 2001 to 2003 and played a pivotal role as Chairman of the Zanzibar Research Committee for Growth and Poverty Reduction from 2002 to 2005. Additionally, he served as Deputy Chairman of the Board at Zanzibar Muslims Academy from 2001 to 2003 and presided over the Board of Zanzibar Educational Journal from 1991 to 1993.

Hamed Rashid H. Hikmany’s extensive qualifications and diverse professional experience make him a respected figure in both academia and public service. His significant contributions to various institutions and committees demonstrate his commitment to the development and progress of his community and country.

Prof. Goski Alabi

Professor Goski Alabi is an accomplished academic, practitioner and entrepreneur with
experience in academia, consultancy, and regulations. She is a Professor of Quality
Management and Leadership and holds B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Diploma in Education
from the University of Cape Coast, an M. Phil. in Food Science from the University of
Ghana, Legon, a Doctor of Business Administration from the Swiss Management
Centre, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Central University of Nicaragua.
Prof. Goski is currently the Dean of the Centre for International Education and
Collaboration at the University for Professional Studies, Accra and served as the
Founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the University. As the Founding
Dean she grew the School from zero to 1000 students in six short years. She is a
Quality Management professional of the highest order. She is a Chartered Quality
Professional (CQP) from the Chartered Quality Institute, UK. She has consulted widely,
and has published over 70 scholarly journal articles, books conference and technical
papers. Prof. Goski Alabi proposed and facilitated the establishment of the Otumfuo
Centre for Traditional Leadership and the Drolor Centre for Strategic Leadership, two
leadership centres of excellence in Ghana. Prof. Goski is passionate about open
supported teaching and learning and is the co-founder of Laweh Open University
College.

Prof. Chika Sehoole

Prof Chika Trevor Sehoole is the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of
Pretoria. He holds a PhD in higher education from the University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg which he obtained in 2002. In 2003/04 he was the recipient of a
Rockefeller funded post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana
Champaign and in 2005/06 a Fulbright New Century Scholar fellowship. He has been a
rated National Research Foundation Researcher since 2007. He has developed a
special passion for higher education in Africa. This interest is pursued through his
work in the African Network for International Education (ANIE) which he served as
chairperson of its from 2012-2016. The highlight of his publications are two books
titled “Democratising higher education, constraints of reforms in post-apartheid South
Africa (2005), Routledge and “Internationalisation of African Higher Education,
Towards Achieving the MDGs” which as co-edited with Jane Knight (2013), Sense

Dr. Kefa Simwa

Dr Kefa Lidundu Simwa is the Executive Director of ANIE and is thus responsible to the
Board for the implementation of ANIEs programs and activities. Dr. Simwa is a senior
lecturer and Chair of Department, Educational Foundations in the School of Education
at Moi University. He earned his Ph D at University of Johannesburg, South Africa in
2013. His area of specialisation is History of Education. Dr. Simwa started his
professional career as a teacher educator in Moi University in 1996 and to date, he has
a quarter a century of work experience. In addition to teaching and supervision of
undergraduate students, he is actively involved in supervision of Masters and PhD
candidates in addition to undertaking various research projects. He is an experienced
researcher who has published several journal articles and book chapters. Among other
professional organisations he is affiliated to is the American Association of Educational
Researchers (AERA) and African Network on Internalisation of Education (ANIE). He
aspires to enhance the research and knowledge generation role of ANIE, strengthen
the capacities of international offices, foster the development of early career
researchers in different disciplines and create platforms for scholarly exchanges on
internationalization of education in Africa.

Dr. Otieno Jowi

Dr. James Otieno JOWI is the Founding Executive Secretary of ANIE and is a member of the ANIE Board. Currently he is the Ag. Executive Secretary to the East African Kiswahili Commission and has been serving as the Principal Education Officer of the East African Community (EAC) for the past five years during which he has been responsible for the coordination and development of regional educational policies, programs and frameworks for the seven EAC countries. Prior to this, he was teaching Comparative and International Education at the School of Education, Moi University, Kenya.He studied at University of Twente (Netherlands) University of Oslo (Norway) and Moi University (Kenya). He has published extensively on internationalization of higher education in Africa. He also sits on the boards of several international education organizations.

Prof.Charles Ong’ondo

Prof. Charles Ochieng’ Ong’ondo is the Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

He is an Associate Professor in Teacher Education. He is a Commonwealth Academic Fellow and Scholar who holds a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Research Methodology (University Warwick, UK), a PhD in English Language Teacher Education (the University of Leeds, UK), an M.Phil. Degree in English Language Education (Moi University, Kenya), a B.Ed. Degree in English and Literature (Moi University), and a Diploma in Education (Siriba Teachers College – Kenya).

His academic interests are: Research Methodology (with special interest in Qualitative research); Teacher Education (with keen attention to the Practicum); English Language Pedagogy (at School, Tertiary and University levels); Training of Trainers; Curriculum/Programme/Course Design and Evaluation; Academic Writing and Organizational Communication.

Karine Hindrix
Dr. Simon Peter Ngalomba

Dr. Simon Peter Ngalomba is currently a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Higher Education and Human Development Research Group, University of the Free State, South Africa and a lecturer at the Department of Educational Foundations, Management and Lifelong Learning, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He holds PhD in Education from Kenyatta University, Kenya. Ngalomba’s research interest is in the field of internationalization of education. He is an active member of the Eastern African Research and Innovation Management Association (EARIMA) and African Network for Internationalization of Education (ANIE). 

Dr. Faith Mkwananzi
Prof. Patricio Langa
Prof. Parvati Raghuram
Dr Craig Walker
Prof. Ashley Gunter
Julia Lichtkoppler

Julia Lichtkoppler has worked for the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR) since 2010. In that capacity she has implemented ten APPEAR calls for funding, monitored various projects, revised the programme design and represented APPEAR in national and international events. Since 2019 Julia Lichtkoppler has been responsible for setting up the Austrian-African Research Network (Africa-UniNet), which actively engages its member institutions in joint events and annual calls for funding. Furthermore, she has acted as a reviewer for similar European funding programmes. Julia Lichtkoppler holds a degree in Political Science.

Alexandra Grieshofer

Alexandra Grieshofer graduated in Development Studies from the University of Vienna (Austria) in 2012. Since 2015, she has been working in the field of international cooperation in higher education at OeAD – Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation, currently as Programme Officer for the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR).

In addition to her professional work, she is completing her PhD in Development Studies at the University of Vienna. Her research focuses on ontologically and epistemically determined notions of subjectivity and (cultural) alterity in the context of the modern development narrative.

Dr. Lavern Samuels
Divinia Jithoo
Yasmine Cherif

Yasmine Cherif is in charge of international projects in the fields of digitalisation, governance, and capacity building of higher education at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. Since joining the International Relations’ Department in 2020, she has overseen regional and international projects that have a strong focus on cross-border university cooperation, policy reform, digital innovation, and structural transformation. She has namely coordinated the European project OpenU, which brings together researchers, policymakers and stakeholders to implement changes in the Higher Education Area. She currently manages its main result, the BLOOM hub, as well as works with international partners committed to fostering changes and making a useful impact across the academic community. Yasmine Cherif holds a M.A. degree in Political Sciences with a specialization in international cooperation and development.

Dr Annie Soriot

Annie Soriot is the director of International Relations at Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne. Prior to joining the university, she was Deputy Director of Programs at the Global Development Network, a public international organisation located in New Delhi (Headquarters) and Washington D.C. Annie worked on global research capacity building programs for the Least Developed Countries and on various research projects, such as Natural wealth accounting (Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco), Financial inclusion in Latin American countries. She was also the director of the ‘Annual Global Development Conference’, which brings together researchers, corporate leaders, and political figures to discuss critical development issues (Structural Transformation in Africa, Agriculture for Sustainable Growth). Back to France, she was Director of international affairs of Université de Rennes 1. Previously, she was the Academic Director of Economics and Social Sciences Department at the École des Ponts ParisTech, a French graduate engineering school. She holds a PhD in Economics (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) and taught Microeconomics, Monetary Policy, History of Economic Thought, and Economic Policy at several universities including Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris Sud and University of Liege

Huba Boshoff

Dr. Monicah is an accomplished academic with 23 years of management experience, excelling in stakeholder engagement, grants administration, employee growth, and organizational development. She hold a Phd in Administration and Management from Uganda Management Institute and currently a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at the Ali Mazrui Centre for Higher Education, University of Johannesburg, with research interests in higher education management. Her dedication to academia and her diverse skill set makes her a valuable contributor to the field of Higher Education and organizational excellence

Khadija Shariff

Khadija Shariff is an international educational development and economic empowerment specialist with over 15 years working on development projects focusing on gender and youth. She has worked with community organizations, schools, national and international NGOs in both the United States and East Africa. She is one of the leaders of the Assessment of Life Skills and Values (ALIVE) team based in Zanzibar, Tanzania. She is also the Country Lead for the Regional Education Learning Initiative. Her passion and interests are in nurturing and assessment of socio-emotional learning or Life Skills. 

Apiyo Okwiri

Apiyo Okwiri is currently the Project Manager for Africa at OBREAL Global.

She has vast experience in the field of International cooperation in Higher Education and quality assurance.

She has worked as a lead consultant on Research and Education Networks in Eastern and Southern Africa of Ubuntunet Alliance, Malawi. She has been involved in several collaborative projects with other organizations focused on Higher Education, namely the Association of African Universities (AAU), the African Union (AU), and the European Universities Association (EUA) under the Africa-EU partnership as a Tuning Expert in Tuning Africa and Institutional Evaluation Expert in Europe-Africa Quality Connect: Building Institutional Capacity through Partnership.

She is a former President of Erasmus Mundus Association (EMA) global, former President of the EMA African Chapter and Co – Chair of Erasmus+ Students and Alumni Alliance (ESAA). She is currently co-leading the establishment of the African Student and Alumni Forum (ASAF).

Dr Jackson Too
Ramadhani Ally Matimbwa

Ramadhani Ally Matimbwa has 10years expérience of science classroom teaching, 6 years of Pedagogical Mentoring/Coaching, and Training in-service and pre-service teachers, 7 years of Coordinating and Managing projects, Expert in ICT integration in teaching and learning and now through RELI (VALI Cluster – ALiVE project) Rama has strengthened designing & conducting research, data analysis & packaging and policy advocacy in leaning assessment into education system. Academic Background : UDSM – B.sc.ed (2006-2009) and   M. ED (SC. ED) (2013-2016

Leolyn Jackson
Prof. Anne Syomwene

Prof. Anne Syomwene, Dean School of Education Moi University

is a holder of an earned PhD in Curriculum Studies and an Associate Professor in the same field in Moi University, Kenya. She is currently the Dean, School of Education. She has previously served as a Chair of Department, campus coordinator and Teaching Practice coordinator. She has published many papers in refereed Journals and several books in the field of curriculum and instruction. She has supervised many doctoral and masters theses in education. Her research interests are on curriculum design, development and implementation; and gender issues in education. Her works can be accessed through the google scholar link: anne syomwene – Google Scholar and work profile link:  profiles.mu.ac.ke/annes/syomwenekisilu/

Dr. David K. Kessio

Dr. David Kessio is a Senior Lecturer and postgraduate coordinator and Managing Editor, The educator journal at Moi University, School of Education, and Department of Educational Management & Policy Studies. He holds a PhD in Educational Administration, Mphil. in Educational Management and B.ED (Arts), Moi University. MBA in Research & Higher Education, Osnabruck University of Applied Sciences, Germany. He is a DAAD alumni and actively involved in mentoring young scholars within the network. He was awarded DAAD in country and study visit to Germany. He has published widely in his area of specialization: Internationalization of Education and Policy studies. He teaches Educational Research and Educational Management related courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He has attended several academic seminars within and outside the country. His contribution as postgraduate supervisor and mentor is incredible. He participates as a motivational speaker and corporate social responsibility. He’s a Board member in several secondary schools.

Nolwazi M.R Qumbisa

Nolwazi M.R Qumbisa is a lecturer in the Built Environment Department at the Central University of Technology, Free State (CUT), South Africa. Affordable housing, Sustainable human settlements, urban development planning, inclusive education, constitutes the primary research interest of Ms. Qumbisa.  Ms. Qumbisa has a Master’s degree in Housing from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Nolwazi master’s degree research focused on alternative housing solutions in South Africa, primarily in the area of self-help housing. She is a doctoral PhD candidate in Construction Management at Nelson Mandela University. Ms. Qumbisa has published international proceedings and book chapters focused on using African epistemologies to enhance inclusive education and public housing.    

Siyamthanda Makhwabe

Siyamthanda Makhwabe is a lecturer at the Central University of Technology, Bloemfontein, South Africa. Her work focuses specifically on Urban Development and Sustainability and Urban Development Economics. Her interests are in urban planning geared towards improving the socio-economic conditions of South Africans in a sustainable manner.

She holds a Masters degree In the Built Environment (Housing) from Witwatersrand as well as a Bachelor Degree from the University of Pretoria in Town and Regional Planning. Mrs Makhwabe is also registered as Professional Town Planner with the South African Council of Planners (SACPLAN) with extensive experience in consultancy.