The Addis Ababa Convention for Recognition of Studies , one of its instruments, had and still remains to be ratified by the majority of African states; the African Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ASG-QA) were subsequently drafted in the context of HAQAA1 (2015-2018), an initiative of the Africa-EU Strategic Partnership, financed by the European Union, as was a review methodology for quality assurance agencies (QAA) in Africa; The TUNING Africa initiative tabled a proposal for an African Credit Transfer System, which is pending endorsement; and an initiative of the European Training Foundation (ETF), GIZ (Germany) and the African Union Commission to build the African Continental Qualifications Framework is underway

As an integral part of PAQAF, the AU has also committed to the establishment of a Pan-African Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (PAQAA), which should serve as a guardian body for the PAQAF actions lines and tools.

The PAQAA has been a concept that has been both reinforced and matured over the past six years, expressly tied to African Union policy commitments and strategies:

•  In Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want (page 14), a call is made to “Build and expand an African knowledge society through transformation and investments in universities, science, technology, research and innovation; and through the harmonization of education standards and mutual recognition of academic and professional qualifications” and to “establish an African Accreditation Agency to develop and monitor educational quality standards, with a view to expanding student and academic mobility across the continent” .
• Subsequently, the African Union’s ‘First Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063 (2014–2023) commits to an “Integrated Africa”, where and “African Education Accreditation Agency and a common educational system are in place and the African Youth will have the choice to study at any university and work anywhere on the continent.”
• In the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2016–2025), the general purposes of harmonisation are reiterated, notably though guiding principle 4 and strategic objective 4: “Harmonised education and training systems are essential for the realisation of intra-African mobility and academic integration through regional cooperation.”

The consultation process on the proposed phases for development of the PAQAA is designed to involve key stakeholder groups in HE to:

• raise awareness for the PAQAA and its eventual mandate
• generate a debate on best pathway to its establishment, based on the scenarios proposed
• generate stakeholder buy-in for the implementation of PAQAA and its eventual governance structure

The consultation will ask key stakeholders about their opinion on the four phases, the governance model and the operational set-up and financing of the PAQAA. It will be based on these questions:

• Do you support the ultimate goal to have one integrated agency for overseeing the implementation of all aspects of the PAQAF?
• Do you support a progressive approach to the agency set-up, developing certain functions over time?
• Is there anything that would inhibit your country or agency from participating in the agency and its functions?
• Which governance model would you endorse?
• Which financial model would you prefer, taking into account the sustainability of the organisation (membership, intermittent donor funding, Member State contribution….)

The consultation will target: Quality Assurance Agencies – QAA, National Qualifications Authorities and targeted HEIs, as well as university representative bodies and some selected pan-African institutions, targeted in different ways, so as to ensure efficacy as well as qualitative feedback.

A synthesis report of the consultations will be presented to the African Union Commission (STC). This will entail recommendations on general framework for the legal and financial implementation of PAQAA and a path to optimise the resources, actions and the results achieved. It will assess and integrate the results of the consultation, comment on the feasibility and desirability of each of the scenarios, provide and in-depth risk assessment and ultimately propose a path forward. The AUC will be able to use this report to decide on next steps regarding the establishment/set-up of the agency.

With HAQAA2’s support, a Technical Working Group – TWG – was constituted and endorsed by the AUC . The TWG has developed four phases for the PAQAA’s establishment, which includes risk assessments. These phases can be seen as progressive stages of the agency’s establishment, and a possible means to growing the agency’s functions over time.

Document on the Phases of the PAQAA Set-Up

The survey for the PAQAA consultation is being made available in four languages to all major stakeholder groups.

The closing date to respond is

25 July 2022

We advise you to study closely the Phases for the development of PAQAA in order to be best informed to answer.

Acces to the survey in the diferrent lenguages

eNGLISH VERSION FRENCH VERSION PORTUGUESE VERSION ARABIC VERSION