USAID brings regional university online

By improving online access for students at a private university in Senegal, USAID is helping make quality education for African students a real alternative to costly study in Europe or North America.

Through the Digital Freedom Initiative (DFI), a U.S. Presidential Initiative, USAID/Senegal helped the Université du Sahel in Dakar set up a website (www.unis.sn), online registration, an electronic library and soon courses online -- all important services to boost the university’s competitiveness.

Since January 2004, DFI has worked closely with a service provider to build an interactive website, a long-time dream of the university’s leadership.

“Having traveled and visited many universities, I wanted to have a website similar to the best American universities,” said University Director Dr. El Hadj Issa Sall.

As more than 80% of the university’s students come from mostly African countries, he wanted to make it easier for all students to register. “I wasted a lot of time during the registration process. Now it takes only one week to process applications, make decisions, and inform parents,” he said. About a fifth of students now register online, including a Czech national.

“I joined the university because I saw the online registration,” said Serge Boda Etiennovtich, a 24-year-old, second-year student from the Central African Republic.

Greater visibility has led to more students and more revenue. “The website brings a new dimension and this prompts me to be more ambitious,” said Sall. “Currently I’m building new classrooms and housing to be able to accommodate 1,000 students.” Technology has made the director a busier man, but he is not complaining.

The university, which opened in 1998, has over 400 students from 20 African countries. With a faculty of 80 professors, it offers courses in information technology, law and economics. The university is one of 10,000 academies that belong to Cisco Systems. Through USAID Global Development Alliance with Cisco, the university receives online courses and materials for free.

As a result of USAID’s activity with the Université du Sahel, each computer science student has access to a computer that is fully networked and linked to the Internet. Students gain expertise in Internet security, artificial intelligence, web site design, e-card development and computer networking.

Tapping into resources of more established institutions, UNIS now enjoys good working relationships with several American universities, including Auburn, Texas A&M, Texas Southern University, the University of Houston, and Virginia Tech.

Over 72 Senegalese volunteers, 21 international volunteers and nine American Peace Corps volunteers have worked to date with DFI Senegal in the main focus areas of small and medium-sized business management and operation, telecenters and cyber cafés, access to markets, e-finance, and supporting a pro-competitive policy and regulatory environment.

DFI is an alliance through which the U.S. Government and leading U.S. companies work together to promote economic growth for entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing countries through information and communications technologies. Announced in March 2003 and piloted in Senegal, DFI is now active in Indonesia, Jordan, and Peru, and will be expanded to an additional 16 countries by 2008.