To reinforce liaison with the Partnership Universities and also to prepare for our forthcoming regional conference in Nairobi, Kenya, Tsutomu Shibata, Senior Adviser for the Scaling-Up Program, visited Africa from October 9 – 17, 2005.

Accra, Ghana
The new activities under the Scaling-Up Program were introduced by Tsutomu to University of Ghana, one of our Partnership Universities, and were well received with supports. He also met with current JJ/WBGSP scholars at University of Ghana. They keenly appreciated the opportunity to share their research work with us and also to build an active network among the current scholars, alumni and beyond.

Nairobi, Kenya
Two meetings were held with the Kenyan alumni of JJ/WBGSP who reside in the country to discuss the forthcoming regional conference in Nairobi. Kenya is one of the biggest home counties of our alumni, and they warmly welcomed Tsutomu’s visit. Many ideas for the Scaling-Up activities were drawn from discussion, including strengthening of the alumni network in Kenya in view of creating sound ties with the World Bank and Japanese embassy. Updated alumni list for Kenya is now under preparation.

Kampala, Uganda
In the meeting with Makerere University, another Partnership Universities in Africa, the university exuded enthusiasm for the Scaling-Up Program and assured of their committed participation. He also met with current scholars who welcomed the Program.

We thank you to all those who have shown their support for the Scaling-Up Program. Please send us your questions and/or comments about the Program to: spscalingup@worldbank.org