Yaoundé, Cameroon - The first Conference on Leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for Higher Education Integration has successfully concluded after two days of high-level discussions in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Jointly organized by OBREAL,  the Pan African University (PAU), the Association of African Universities, hosted by the International Relations Institute of Cameroon (IRIC), and supported by the Harmonisation of African Higher Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation (HAQAA) Initiative and the Government of Catalunya, the event brought together key stakeholders from across Africa and Europe.

The landmark conference, which took place on April 7-8, 2025, set the stage for a long-term initiative aimed at strengthening the synergies between economic integration and higher education development across Africa.

In her keynote address, H.E. Selma Malika Haddadi, Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized that continental integration and higher education policy share a common overriding objective: "Development is the main political objective, in Africa, for both continental economic and higher education integration."

Her Excellency further highlighted two essential points: "The need to build bridges between integration policy and higher education policy, and the imperative for massive training efforts on the interaction between continental integration and higher education policy."

Dr. Jackie Kado, Executive Director of the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC), noted in her address that "free movement of knowledge and expertise is just as important as free movement of goods and services." She called for removing regulatory barriers preventing mutual recognition of degrees and increasing investment in research and development.

Prof. Usman Bakri, President of the Association of African Universities, outlined strategic roles for higher education institutions in advancing AfCFTA, including "producing a skilled workforce for a competitive Africa, enhancing research and innovation for industrial growth, and promoting academic mobility and regional collaboration."

The academic portion of the conference featured more than 20 papers presented across five panels, demonstrating strong interest from qualified experts willing to contribute to knowledge creation and dissemination for this initiative.

Building on this momentum, Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, former African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, provided a roadmap for implementation. He suggested that the African Union Commission and the Pan African University should serve as institutional platforms to unite different actors around this initiative, with a focus on developing specialized online courses targeting policymakers and civil servants at national and regional levels.

The conference concluded with a call for a comprehensive training program focused on three key areas:

• Widespread sensitization about the interface between African Continental economic integration and Higher Education Integration
• Continuous production and dissemination of new knowledge
• Commitment to multilingualism, inclusion, and focus on indigenous African knowledge and its role in commerce, innovation, and education.

The EU's support through various partnership programs, including the HAQAA initiative, Intra-African Mobility, Capacity Building for Higher Education, Jean Monnet Networks, and support for the African Continental Qualifications Framework, was recognized as a key enabler for furthering African higher education integration.