'The recovery of higher education in africa is not a short-term event'

Njabulo Ndebele, new president of the Association of African Universities, is looking to a brighter future

Njabulo Ndebele, new president of the Association of African Universities (AAU), is leading the drive to clinch support for a revival of African universities at next month's G8 meeting in Scotland.

The South African literary critic and author and University of Cape Town vice-chancellor was elected president of the AAU at its quadrennial conference in Cape Town in January, where he said he felt "overwhelmed by a sense of fresh beginnings".

Whether the optimism among universities will be backed by improved resources depends greatly on whether Tony Blair persuades the G8 to support his Commission for Africa's proposals to raise aid to Africa, including a $5 billion (£2.7 billion) boost for higher education over ten years.

If Mr Blair succeeds, even to a degree, it will be the task of Professor Ndebele and the AAU - working with new bodies such as the European Union-style African Union and New Economic Partnership for Africa's Development - to design and implement higher education development programmes.

The respected academic, who is past president of what is now called Higher Education South Africa (Hesa) - the vice-chancellors' association for Africa's strongest higher education sector - will be backed by an invigorated AAU, whose Ghana headquarters he visited this week.

The AAU, Hesa and the Association of Commonwealth Universities have undertaken a ten-year programme to place universities at the heart of African development.

At the AAU conference, Professor Ndebele spoke of "many signs that the recovery of higher education in Africa is a historic, irreversible phenomenon and not a dramatic short-term event".