The Réseau Africain Francophone des Agences Nationales d’Assurance Qualité (RAFANAQ) was created in Dakar on 20 February 2020, during a constitutive general assembly held on the last day of the international meeting organised by UNESCO for the implementation of the 3rd component of the UNESCO/Shenzhen Funds-in-Trust (FIT) Project on the strengthening of quality assurance networks in Africa and support for the development of regional recognition tools.

The Network is committed to contributing to the assurance and improvement of the quality of higher education and research in Francophone Africa by strengthening the work of national quality assurance agencies and other organisations and projects with similar objectives. To this end, it pursues the following objectives:

a) To promote a culture of quality assurance in higher education, research and innovation in Francophone Africa;

(b) To foster collaboration and links between national quality assurance agencies in French-speaking Africa;

(c) To share good practices for the improvement and maintenance of quality higher education and research in Francophone Africa;

(d) To support the implementation of the African and world conventions on the recognition of qualifications in higher education;

(e) To promote the harmonisation of quality assurance standards among African countries by supporting the implementation of the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ASG-QA);

(f) To provide advice and expertise to countries on the establishment or consolidation of their national quality assurance agencies;

(g) To collaborate with other quality assurance bodies/agencies in Africa and globally in capacity building, exchange of expertise and collaboration;

h) To facilitate research on quality assurance in higher education with the aim of improving knowledge in the field in Africa;

(i) To facilitate international recognition of qualifications to improve staff and student mobility in Africa;

(j) To promote the interests of Africa and particularly Francophone Africa in other networks and international organisations with related objectives.

Synergies can be achieved by RAFANAQ and HAQAA2 in the framework of their partnership: Both have common objectives and interests for the development of the quality of higher education and research in Africa through strong quality assurance mechanisms.

RAFANAQ is composed of full members, namely the French-speaking African national structures (ANAQ-Sup/Senegal; AMAQ-Sup/Mali; ANAQ-Guinea; ANAQ-Sup/Niger; ANEAQ/Morocco and ANAQ-ESU/DRC and the National Commission for Higher Education of Burundi), in charge of quality assurance, evaluation and accreditation in higher education and research in their respective countries.

RAFANAQ has also admitted associate members consisting of the Directorates General of Higher Education of Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Togo.

The network may grant observer status to :

  • Organisations from within and outside Francophone Africa;
  • Institutions with a major interest in higher education and research in Francophone Africa.

Professor Lamine GUEYE, Executive Secretary of ANAQ-Sup (Senegal), was appointed President of the Network for a two (02) year term, renewable once. Prof. Kabiné Oularé of ANAQ-Guinea and Prof. Juma Shabani of CNES-Burundi respectively hold the positions of Vice-President and Treasurer of the Network.

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