Chinese varsity to establish Nyerere think tank at UDSM

 

By Jacob Mosenda

Education writer/journalist with The Citizen Mwananchi Communication Limitted

Summary

·         The expected institution will increase the number of China-Africa think tanks on the continent, according to Tanzanian and Chinese officials involved in the partnership deal

Dar es Salaam. The University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and the China-based Institute of African Studies Zhejiang Normal University (IASZNU) are in a collaborative process to establish the Centre for Mwalimu Julius Nyerere and African Liberation Movement Studies-East Africa.

The expected institution will increase the number of China-Africa think tanks on the continent, according to Tanzanian and Chinese officials involved in the partnership deal.

Scholars from the two universities participated yesterday at a joint seminar with the theme ‘Nyerere, China and South-South Cooperation: Friendship, Solidarity and Common Development’ held at UDSM.

The discussions were about ways to strengthen cooperation and continue to spread Mwalimu’s vision in the global arena through the proposed Nyerere Centre to be established at UDSM.

The Mwalimu Nyerere Foundation (MNF) will function as a link in the project, facilitating knowledge exchange and idea sharing as important areas of cooperation that need to trickle down to the population.

Prof Bernadeta Killian, who represented UDSM’s Vice Chancellor at yesterday’s event, said the seminar was timely as the China-Tanzania relationship was approaching its sixtieth anniversary.

“We at UDSM have embraced the idea to establish the East African Branch of the Institute of African Studies. We hope that soon, after completion of all internal processes, this institution will be operating at UDSM,” Prof Killian noted.

She noted that UDSM will immensely benefit from the research activities that the institute promises. She noted that after completion of all the requisite formal procedures, “we shall prepare a signing ceremony to give this collaboration its deserved esteem.”

The chairman of the MNF, Mr Joseph Butiku, said that the development was part of the Foundation’s goal to spread friendship, solidarity, and common development in the context of South-South Cooperation.

“Specifically, this event marks yet another historic and important new chapter in the work relationship between the two universities. This will help us to develop the philosophy of Mwalimu Nyerere for scholars in China and around the world,” he said.

Among China’s higher-learning institutions, IASZNU is the first institute to have founded the China-Africa Think Tanks Forum (CATTF), the first African Museum, and the Translation Centre for African Studies, the African Literature Library, and the Professional Database for African Studies.

According to Prof Liu Hungwu, founder and director of IASZNU, the goal of the institution was to accommodate more think tanks that would develop African and Chinese realities through dialogues, exchange of ideas, and research.

“Through the East African Centre, we will be able to develop the strategic vision of Mwalimu Nyerere, and this is our goal in this partnership,” he noted.

In this, Mr Butiku said that the foundation was encouraged by their participation at the CATT 2023: “We recognise this as an invaluable platform for Sino-African cooperation.”