A formal, signed agreement has established a collaboration between Southern Polytechnic State University (SPSU) and the Africa Heritage Foundation (AHF), both of which are Cobb Chamber members. The agreement seeks to build bridges between the 55 nations of the African Union and the United States, in part through the creation of a network of universities on both continents.
According to Dr. Richard Bennett of the Social and International Studies Department at SPSU, the agreement will base the AHF at the University. SPSU counts students from 26 African nations among its enrollment.
Cobb Chamber Chairman’s Club Representative Tunde Adetunji, a cultural ambassador from Nigeria who founded the AHF and serves as its CEO, said the P.K. Fokam Institute of Excellence in Cameroon – with whom SPSU already has an established partnership – will serve as the flagship institute in a network of universities the AHF is developing in Africa and several other countries.
“These are not to be considered branch campuses, but independent universities networked together in close relationship with SPSU,” Dr. Bennett stressed, noting that the African Union is particularly interested in increasing the amount of meaningful technology and technology transfer in its nations.
For SPSU, the significance of the agreement lies in teaching, research and learning opportunities for faculty and students, as well as the opportunity to enrich the campus culture with high-profile speakers and other visitors to campus.
“We look forward to this partnership and all that it offers to those involved,” Dr. Bennett told Adetunji.
