On April 15th, a meeting took place in Lyon with 4 colleagues from the University of Garoua, Cameroon, including its rector, to finalize a cooperation agreement with USF. It is worth noting that this university was established in 2022, from totally new institutions and some other institutions integrating branches of existing universities. In total, the university comprises 5 faculties and 3 higher schools. The university currently has 10,000 students.

The cooperation priorities are as follows:

1. An Erasmus project within a local consortium of 3 universities that has not yet received any Erasmus-type support. The aim is to develop English-language courses at the undergraduate and master’s levels, in connection with European universities for student exchanges. USF has expertise in this area and offers to support the project by facilitating the identification of European partners and drafting a proposal that highlights the originality and importance of the request for development.

2. A professionalization goal for the training is given to the university, which seeks to establish concrete connections with the world of work and civil society to facilitate entrepreneurship. USF quickly presents the AFRICAIN project (Associating Training, Research, and Innovation in Digital Intelligence Activation Cycles) advocated to the AFD and studied for the Innovation and Development Fund.

The partnership agreement

The already shared partnership agreement is discussed regarding reciprocity in order to succeed in the jointly conducted projects.

The participants agree on the following wording: The stakeholders commit to mobilizing, within the limits of their respective means, the resources necessary for the development of projects carried out cooperatively. The terms of reciprocity will be specified for each cooperation project between the stakeholders.

The agreement is signed by the representatives of the University of Garoua and USF. It will be definitively enacted after validation by the Board of Directors of the University of Garoua.

The convention will be coordinated by Professor Alain Mille.

Dr. Hamadou Sanoussi, Jean Moulin University, Lyon, Secretary of USF