Fostering Academic Cooperation between North Rhine-Westphalia and Ghana

Ghana-NRW University Alliance

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A consortium of eight universities from the federal German state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) that aims to foster academic excellence and promote research collaboration with universities in Ghana

Building on the long-standing partnership between Ghana and NRW, the alliance's mission is to enhance the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and experiences through organized events, information dissemination, and project development.

The office in Accra serves as a central point of contact for researchers and students from both regions, providing support, coordination, and opportunities for collaboration. The ultimate goal of the alliance is to strengthen academic cooperation between universities in Ghana and NRW, and to contribute to the advancement of education and research through mutually beneficial partnerships.

Top-Level Research

Tapping into the West African Research Hub

A map of the African continent showing the location 135 universities participating in the Times Higher Education Africa Ranking 2025. Depending on ranking and location of universities there is a heatmap identifying regions where several high ranking universities are within a radius of 500km. The heatmap shows four clusters: 1) the northern coast between Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia 2) Egypt, 3) South Africa and 4) Westafrika with Nigeria and Ghana. A red circle shows the location of Accra, where the office of the Ghana-NRW University Alliance is based

West Africa is one of four emerging scientific hubs on the African continent. Within this context, Ghana plays a growing role through regional academic and research collaboration, institutional capacity, and international funding partnerships.

Universities in Ghana attract students and researchers from neighbouring countries, including Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ghana hosts several initiatives under the African Centres of Excellence (ACE) program, supported by the World Bank. These focus on research and postgraduate training in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM); Agricultural development and food systems; Health and biomedical sciences

Another important area of cooperation is Infectious Disease Research, driven by WACCBIP. The University of Ghana is home to the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP). Funded by the World Bank and other international partners, WACCBIP conducts research on infectious diseases and provides advanced training in molecular biology and genomics. The center has contributed to regional disease surveillance and has trained researchers from multiple West African countries.

Ghana also hosts the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL). WASCAL is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and supports applied research and academic training in the field of climate change and land use. The program involves collaboration between universities and research institutions in ten West African countries.