Leiden delegation expands collaborations with the University of Ghana
The Leiden Africa Platform is pleased to announce that a partnership agreement between Leiden University and the University of Ghana was signed in November. The University of Ghana is a strategic partner of Leiden. Earlier this year, an agreement was also signed between LDE and the University of Nairobi as part of Leiden's Africa Strategy.
In the spirit of this new partnership agreement (officially known as a Memorandum of Understanding), the University of Ghana (UG) hosted a delegation of Leiden academics and staff in Accra during the week of 24 November to discuss concrete projects to strengthen collaborations between the two universities.
The members of the delegation (Caroline Archambault, David Ehrhardt, Marja Spierenburg, Louise Bezuidenhout, Kirsten Langeveld, Sara de Wit, and Victoria Nyst) organised sessions on the impacts of the energy transition on sub-Saharan Africa, indigenous knowledge systems and climate science, autonomous learning, collaboration through open science, language technology for digital mothertongue-based learning, and public health.
Student exchange agreement
The delegation also included Head of Leiden’s International Relations Office Hung Wah Lam for sessions on scholarship and exchange programmes and Erasmus+ programmes. A student exchange agreement was signed. Prof. Musyimi Mbathi of the University of Nairobi & Nuvoni Centre for Innovation Research also joined the mission and explored options for collaboration between the University of Nairobi, University of Ghana and Leiden.
Every delegation member organised their own meetings and workshops with UG collaborators, including colleagues from the Institute for African Studies, the Department of Linguistics, the College of Education, and many others. The week proved to be very fruitful in terms of creating linkages - and concrete new activities - with partners at UG, between partners at UG, and between colleagues at Leiden University. For example, in early 2026 the Learning Mindset project will start a small-grants and student-trainer programme with UG's College of Education.
‘We are incredibly grateful to our colleagues at the University of Ghana for the warm welcome and hospitality offered’, Africa Region Group co-chair David Ehrhardt said after the visit. ‘We look forward to an intensification of collaboration in the years to come.’
Interested in collaborating with UG?
Are you a Leiden colleague with an interest in working more closely with Ghana? Be sure to reach out to Maaike Westra via LeidenAfricaPlatform@asc.leidenuniv.nl.