Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (AKTP) are partnerships between private sector organisations and Higher Education institutions in Sub Saharan Africa and the UK. The partnership projects leverage research, scientific knowledge and skills through innovation.

Aim of the Knowledge Transfer Partnerships
The programme is designed to help businesses improve their productivity and competitiveness using the scientific knowledge, technology and skills available from the Higher Education Institutions (“Knowledge Base”) through collaborative projects between the institutions and the private sector.

Project Objectives

			To facilitate  the transfer of knowledge and the spread of technical and business skills, through innovative projects undertaken by high caliber, recently qualified graduates with the joint supervision of  the Company and University.
			Provide company-based training for graduates in order to enhance their business and specialist skills within the context of the project.
			Stimulate and enhance business relevant education and research undertaken by High Education Institutions.
			Increase the extent of interactions by businesses with the Universities and their awareness of the contribution Higher Education Institutions can make to business development and growth.

Who is involved?
AKTP is a British Council programme built on a very successful UK model. It is aiming to support partnerships between the private sector and tertiary institutions to cover specific projects to improve products and services through the better use of scientific knowledge, technology and skills. AKTP is currently being piloted here in Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.

Project Implementation Structure
The partnership is initiated by a company’s need to address a problem of strategic importance. This may be a need for improvement of product quality, new product innovations, or a need to improve a production process.

The company employs a recent graduate (“Associate”) who works in the company to implement the project transferring knowledge from the Higher Education Institution to the company. click here to view the project structure.

What are the Benefits?
The Africa Knowledge Transfer benefits all the partners;

The Company

Opportunity for the private sector to use the knowledge base of the Uganda and the UK higher education sector for their development needs and growth.

The Associate

			Opportunity to bridge the gap  between academia  and the world of work
			Opportunity to be trained as  a future business leader
			Enhanced management and technical skills acquired  in a commercial setting

Higher Education Institution

			Informing and developing future higher education (science and technology) curriculum through strengthening its relevance to the private and public sector.
			Opportunity for joint research  into development of  products and services with companies and higher institutions of Uganda and the UK

How do I join the programme?

			British Council calls for proposals. You will be able to download the appropriate proposal form (Company Proposal A or University Proposal B) and return to our office in confidence.
			Signing of the Memorandum of understanding among the Partners: Company, University and British Council
			Recruitment of the Project Associate
			Project starts

This process depends on how fast the proposal is developed. Turnaround and approval of the proposals takes a relatively short time, normally within 2 weeks of submission of the final proposal. The MoU is signed shortly after the proposal has been selected

Ongoing projects

• Uganda Clays Limited in partnership with Makerere University to develop optimal use of biomass as an industrial furnace fuel.
• JDG Africa limited a company dealing in the production of raw salt products in partnership with Mbarara University of Science and Technology to develop optimal iodisation methods including Uganda’s first production of edible salt.
• Mpanga Growers Tea Factory Company Limited in Partnership with the Departments of Agricultural Engineering and that of Forest Biology and Ecosystems Management, Makerere University, a project aimed at improving energy efficiency and environmental conservation at Mpanga Growers Tea Factory.
• Uganda Pearl Fruit Company Limited, a subsidiary of Amfri Farms Limited in partnership with the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Makerere University to improve the company’s production process and improve efficiency.

What beneficiaries have to say about the programme so far?

We are grateful to British Council, AKTP has opened many opportunities for us because we are now able to demonstrate that it is possible to produce iodised salt in Uganda’ says Daniel Musiitwa, JDG Africa.

‘There are many unemployed science graduates across Africa who could improve the performance of companies across Africa if they were employed using the AKTP model. The Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnership has motivated me to stay in Uganda as a young graduate engineer instead of seeking employment in the UK. British Council has empowered me to make a real difference within Uganda Clays’ Joseph Kawombe AKTP Associate. Through his initial work on drying processes Joseph has reduced the drying time for brick manufacturing at Uganda Clays from 7 to 3 days, a dramatic improvement in productivity during the first 9 months of the project.

British Council is involved in Africa Knowledge Transfer Partnerships because of the increased interest to make a contribution to the Science and Technology agenda in Uganda by introducing a knowledge transfer model which strengthens competitiveness, wealth creating and economic performance amongst others.

British Council is also interested in increasing its support for the higher education sector; we already link universities in UK and Uganda through another program known as DELPHE. Click here for more information about  the DELPHE programme.