Nigerian universities’ ACEs attract $89.1m, generate over ₦3.2bn – Project Coordinator
By Uji A.Iliyasu, Abuja
Fourteen Nigerian universities hosting 17 Africa Centres of Excellence (ACEs) have attracted an impressive $89.1 million in external funding and generated over ₦3.2 billion in local and international revenue, the National Project Coordinator of the ACE initiative, Dr. Joshua Attah, has revealed.
Speaking at a pre-closure retreat held in Abuja ahead of the June 30 official close of the World Bank-funded phase of the project, Dr. Attah hailed the ACE initiative as a “game changer” in Nigeria’s higher education system.
He recounted that the first phase of the project, ACE I, which ran from February 2015 to March 2020, laid the groundwork for the expanded second phase, ACE Impact, launched in 2019 and co-financed by the World Bank and Agence Française de Développement (AFD).
“Nigeria hosts the highest number of ACEs under ACE Impact—17 Centres—covering critical areas such as maternal and child health, cybersecurity, sustainable power, dryland agriculture, food security, and digital science,” Attah said.
He stated that beyond the $89.1 million earned through Disbursement Linked Indicators (DLIs), the Centres have collectively generated additional revenues: ₦3.2 billion (approx. $24.9 million), €1.77 million, and £589,000—highlighting their entrepreneurial capacity and growing financial sustainability.
“These funds have been reinvested in scholarships, state-of-the-art laboratories, advanced research, and national and international accreditations,” he added.
On the academic front, the Centres have enrolled a total of 33,347 students, including 924 regional and 6,129 national students, with 6,945 currently pursuing graduate degrees (1,862 PhD and 5,083 MSc). Additionally, 19,349 professionals have been trained through short courses.
The ACEs have also made significant research contributions, publishing 2,571 international journal papers, including 977 regional and 1,505 national co-authored works. They have secured over 452 partnerships with universities and industries globally.
Highlighting quality assurance, Dr. Attah confirmed that 128 academic programmes have earned five-year full accreditation from Nigeria’s National Universities Commission (NUC), with 14 programmes receiving international accreditation from bodies in France, Germany, Belgium, and the UK.
Speaking at the retreat, Executive Secretary of the NUC, Prof. Abdullahi Ribadu, lauded the ACE initiative for positioning Nigerian universities as globally competitive innovation hubs.
“This project has empowered our universities, fostered regional integration, and elevated our global academic standing,” Ribadu noted. “We must consolidate these gains and ensure the ACEs continue as engines of growth.”
Also speaking, Prof. Christian Happi, Director of the African Centre of Excellence for Genomic Infectious Diseases (ACEGID) at Redeemer’s University, stressed that the ACE model’s success lies not only in scientific breakthroughs but in its promotion of regional academic collaboration.
The 14 Nigerian universities hosting the Centres includeRedeemer’s University,Ahmadu Bello University,University of Jos,University of Benin, University of Port-Harcourt, Obafemi Awolowo University and Bayero University Kano.
Others are Benue State University,Federal Universities of Technology (Minna and Owerri),University of Lagos, Lagos State University,University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
As the ACE Impact phase draws to a close, stakeholders say its legacy will endure, laying the foundation for a more globally connected, impactful, and innovation-driven Nigerian university system.