Members of the Western cluster public universities of Ethiopia have had meeting with the European Union to access funding opportunities. The opportunities are particularly focussed on exploring the current opportunities for Sub-Saharan HEIs with a special emphasis on capacity building. The universities in this network are: Jimma University, Bonga University, Worabe University, Mettu University, and Wolkite University.
The presidents of the universities held their first Zoom meeting with Mrs. Elena and her colleagues from EU and Mr. Mohammed Abazinab, CEO of Action for Humanity in Canada, to discuss opportunities for funding Sub-Saharan universities that Ethiopian universities could benefit from. The presidents agreed to tap into these opportunities through collaboration among themselves and with other similar higher institutions in Ethiopia and Africa. The importance of establishing a task force of technical experts was suggested.Mr. Mohammed Abazinab, CEO of Action for Humanity in Canada, and a long-term partner of Jimma University played the pivotal role of linking the EU team with Jimma University, creating the opportunity of working collaboratively at cluster level to access the said funding opportunities. 