The third phase of the Harmonisation, Quality Assurance and Accreditation in African Higher Education Initiative (HAQAA3) initiative reaches its midpoint this year, marking important progress while laying the groundwork for the next two and a half years. Through its participation in this initiative, ENQA seeks to help its members, affiliates, and stakeholders better understand the context and priorities of higher education in Africa. This effort aims to foster international cooperation and trust, while drawing on ENQA’s experience and expertise to support recent developments across the continent.
Building from the lessons learnt during the development of a regional quality assurance (QA) framework under the European Higher Education Area, ENQA’s continued engagement focuses on two of the initiative’s five work areas: capacity building in QA and support for a pan-African QA body. In line with these priorities, ENQA supports the development of a system of agency reviews in Africa and the establishment of a Pan-African Quality Assurance Alliance (PAQAA) to eventually coordinate those efforts.
In 2024, ENQA contributed to four regional consultations on the creation and functioning of the PAQAA, and continues to support the development of its governance structures. At the same time, ENQA is leading a knowledge-transfer programme on coordinating agency reviews for an interim technical unit for PAQAA hosted by the Association of African Universities (AAU).
The knowledge-transfer programme blends online trainings and working sessions with in-person collaboration. In addition to three online training sessions, a hybrid meeting took place in Barcelona in February 2025 and an onsite workshop was held in Accra in September 2025. Continuous collaboration between ENQA and AAU teams underpins the upcoming agency review exercises carried out under HAQAA3.
Following a first round of applications from QA agencies and ministries across Africa, eight agency reviews and seven consultancy visits are scheduled between 2025 and 2026. A successful call for nominations produced a database of over sixty experts from QA bodies and higher-education institutions to conduct reviews and consultancy visits. In partnership with the All-African Student Union (AASU), a database of sixteen student experts has also been established, representing an important step in including students in the review panels.
This activity builds on the methodology piloted under earlier HAQAA phases (2015-2022). In the past year, under HAQAA3, ENQA coordinated two agency reviews—NCHE Malawi and CNAQ Mozambique—which were shadowed by members of the interim PAQAA Technical Unit at AAU. For the first time under the HAQAA initiative, a three-level compliance scale was applied, creating the foundation for a future register of ASG-QA compliant agencies. Over the coming year, ENQA and the PAQAA technical unit will coordinate fifteen agency reviews and consultancy visits. This cooperation will not only ensure the successful implementation of those exercises, but also serve to consolidate experience within the technical unit, which will then coordinate the remaining activities, while adapting procedures to the African context.
In close cooperation with DAAD, ENQA has also contributed to another HAQAA3 work strand: the organisation of online trainings on external quality assurance for staff of African QA agencies and ministries responsible for higher education QA. Together with DAAD and HAQAA3 strategic partners IUCEA, CAMES, NAQAAE (Egypt), and ANAQ-SUP (Senegal), two week-long trainings were delivered in January and February 2025, targeting English-speaking West, East and North Africa, as well as French-speaking West and North Africa.
Looking ahead, ENQA will continue to support the development of PAQAA and the work of the interim technical unit. This support will include sustained assistance for coordinating a new round of agency reviews, consultancy visits and follow-up visits in 2027–28, and contributing to the planned revision of the ASG-QA foreseen for 2028.
HAQAA3 is part of the EU Youth Mobility for Africa flagship of the Global Gateway Africa-Europe Investment Package. The flagship initiative promotes opportunities for learning mobility on the continent and between Africa and the EU. It supports cooperation in higher education and skills development, strengthens regional and continental harmonisation mechanisms, while promoting Africa as a study destination. Thereby, the initiative contributes to youth empowerment for sustainable employability and active citizenship. HAQAA3 is implemented by a consortium consisting of OBREAL Global, the Association of African Universities, ENQA and DAAD and will run from 2023 to 2028.