In a move touted as being of significance to the NEPAD initiative, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) has been signed in Egypt between the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the University of Cairo.
The University of KZN, formed following a merger of the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville, has a Centre of Excellence - sponsored by Telkom - on campus that focuses on issues such as wireless technology and rural communications.
The University of Cairo, for its part, plays host to Egypt`s Development Research and Technology Planning Centre (DRTPC), a centre that has similar aims.
"The MOU means that our two educational institutions can focus on issues such as joint research projects, seminars, courses and consultancy," says Professor Fambirai Takawira, the University of KZN`s representative at the event.
"We will also look into staff exchange programmes and guest lecturers, where these are deemed appropriate."
He says that with the convergence of current technologies, the focus is definitely on wireless and digital communications, and the joint efforts of the Centre of Excellence and the DRTPC will help to drive this.
"This MOU brings together two centres from two countries that have been at the heart of Africa`s liberation movements and economic development," says Professor Nageeb Goher of the University of Cairo.
"It is a natural fit and it is an occasion that brings a number of firsts for both our universities and our nations."
According to Reuben September, chief technical officer at Telkom, his organisation sponsors a number of centres of excellence throughout the country and believes that it is part of its responsibility both in SA and across Africa to help with the development, research and application of new technology.
"The MOU will help to broaden the solutions we are seeking on a continental scale, as we face similar challenges and can now face them with combined skills. We are all poorer when we isolate ourselves, but we are enriched when we break down borders."
"I believe this also signals a great day for NEPAD, as it needs to extend beyond government level and go through all levels of society, most especially academia," he says.
"The bringing together of institutes of higher learning in a collaboration like this can only be a good sign for Africa and the burgeoning relationships between countries across the continent," concludes September.
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