The newly graduated PAUWES Class of 2017 celebrates outside the University of Tlemcen Auditorium

The Pan African University Institute for Water and Energy Sciences including Climate Change (PAUWES) celebrated the second graduating class of both tracks of its two Master programmes on September 28
with 47 students from across the African continent receiving their diplomas during a ceremony at the University of Tlemcen in Algeria.

The graduating students and their guests were welcomed and addressed by official representatives of the Algerian government and dignitaries from across Africa and Europe, including Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, the new African Union Commissioner for Human Resources , Science and Technology, Benyaiche Ali, the Governor of the Tlemcen Wilaya, and Michael Zenner, the German Ambassador to Algeria.

The graduating students will join the next generation of African engineers and policymakers committed to addressing the issues critical to Africa’s sustainable development. They have not only successfully completed their coursework requirements, but have conducted practice-oriented research for their master theses based on a multitude of case studies that address the water, energy, and climate-related challenges Africa faces.

In order to gain a transcontinental perspective of those same challenges, the students have also completed international internships in the private and public sectors at renowned research institutions cross Africa and beyond.

Graduate Diana Umulisa (Rwanda) was one of four student speakers to address the ceremony

Besides focusing on their studies, the students of the Class of 2017—with the support of PAUWES—launched the first student-lead clubs, the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Club and the Community of Practice (CoP), which have contributed to the overall sense of community and leadership that our institute strives to promote.

What is more, this cohort of graduating students represents and fulfills one of the key objectives of the Pan African University (PAU) and PAUWES—which is to foster an African learning environment of the most qualified and motivated scholars while revitalizing and nurturing the quality of African higher education.

Not only are an array African Union member states and eleven female students represented in the Class of 2017, but this diverse cohort of students have had the opportunity to study alongside an international faculty of over 100 professors and researchers from across Africa and the world.

Supported by PAUWES, the University of Tlemcen and its key thematic partner—Germany are confident that students of the Class of 2017 are well positioned to become leaders in public administration, policy-making, research, technology, private enterprise, and civil society.

African Press Organisation