By Sharon Dell – Editor. In our Special Report on the recent biennial conference of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) held in Nairobi, Kenya, last month, Gilbert Nakweya reports that African Union targets over the first 10 years of the AU’s Agenda 2063 are being threatened by a lack of technical skills, while Maina Waruru reports on calls for women academics to be bolder in putting themselves forward for career-based opportunities, and Christabel Ligami reports on a three-point plan to boost PhD numbers arising out of the minister’s meeting which took place alongside the conference.
   In news from Zimbabwe, where same-sex marriage remains outlawed and intolerance towards homosexuality is pervasive, Tonderayi Mukeredzi reports on a new scholarship programme launched by Zimbabwe’s leading LGBTI rights organisation to support LGBTI students.
   In two features from Nigeria, Tunde Fatunde provides an update on the plight of law students at the National Open University of Nigeria who have been barred by the Council of Legal Education from pursuing mandatory training for practitioners at the Nigerian Law School, and Alex Abutu reflects on the claim by some of the country’s academics that Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Trust Fund is being used to enrich foreign universities.
   In Africa Analysis, Wondwosen Tamrat discusses the implications of Ethiopia’s long-awaited internationalisation policy, and Eric Fredua-Kwarteng and Samuel Kwaku Ofosu suggest issues that Ghana’s National Accreditation Board could focus on to increase its relevance as an external quality agent for higher education, rather than focusing on relatively trivial issues such as honorary titles.
   Finally, in our series on Transformative Leadership, Brendan O’Malley interviews Mastercard Foundation Scholar Ubah Ali, who is fighting to end the hazardous cultural practice of female genital mutilation in her homeland, Somaliland. More...