The Harare Institute of Technology welcomed H.E. Prof. Gaspard Banyankimbona, the African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI), on a benchmarking visit that may well shape the future of education across the continent.

After getting an overview of the University’s mandate, its academic programmes, centres of excellence, research strands, research and innovation outputs from the HIT Vice Chancellor, Prof. Q.C. Kanhukamwe, and a tour of the Institute’s workshops, laboratories, research and innovation outputs, as well as startups in the Innovation Hub, the Commissioner was really impressed.

“I’m happy to visit HIT, it’s a great institution of technology,” the Commissioner said. But he wasn’t here for pleasantries. “We have heard about Education 5.0, or the Heritage-Based philosophy, and we thought that maybe it’s a model that can inspire other African countries.”

After engaging with Vice Chancellor Prof. Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe, HIT researchers, and students, Prof. Banyankimbona was candid about what he saw: “What we have seen here is really inspiring.”

His message to the continent? HIT’s home-grown model, built on solving local problems through innovation, is exactly what Africa needs more of. “We believe that this can help other countries to really come up with solutions to their own local problems.”