A high-ranking delegation from the University of Freiburg led by Rector Prof. Dr. Kerstin Krieglstein visited the University of Ghana from 27-29.2.2024. In addition to the Rector, the Vice-Rector for Teaching (Prof. Dr Michael Schwarze), the current and future Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Sustainability (Prof. Dr Daniela Kleinschmit, Prof. Dr Melanie Arndt), Prof. Dr Johanna Pink (Islamic Studies), Prof. Dr Andreas Mehler (Political Science, Director of the ABI and the Africa Centre for Transregional Research) and Katharina Aly (Head of the International Office) were part of the delegation.

The warm welcome at the University of Ghana (UG) by the Head of the International Programme Office, Prof. Dr. Eric Osei-Assibey, who had been in Freiburg shortly before, and then by Vice-Chancellor Aba Appiah Amfo, Ms. Krieglstein's counterpart, were just the beginning of a very impressive introduction to this leading West African university. The Freiburg delegation's program included a visit to the Institute of African Studies founded by Kwame Nkrumah, the first head of state of independent Ghana, as well as the associated archive, a meeting with various centers working on the topic of sustainability and with representatives of the medical research centers and the university hospital.

The Freiburg team also visited the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in the bungalow provided by the UG. There they spoke with directors, advisory board members and fellows. The German consortium behind the BMBF project - led by the University of Freiburg - was represented by Andreas Mehler and co-director Prof. Dr. Mamadou Diawara (Goethe University Frankfurt). The keynote speech by the Provost of the College of Humanities, Prof. Dr. Daniel Frimpong Ofori, was significant; the UG's plans to continue MIASA after the BMBF funding ends are currently being further concretized.

Cooperation in all these fields will be further intensified or explored anew. Visits to the German Embassy, the German Academic Exchange Service and the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park (and the newly inaugurated museum) completed the trip.

How is knowledge production at universities still shaped by colonialism to this day? In the project "Decolonize Universities: Participating in Approaches to Decolonizing Knowledge Production," four students have engaged with the process of decolonization at two universities, the University of Ghana and the University of Freiburg.

In Freiburg, Abdul Karim Ibrahim and Harriet Nana Akua Agyapong (both from the University of Ghana), Vincent Stein (University of Freiburg), and Felix Ampoma (University of Bayreuth) took a decolonial perspective on the curricula of bachelor's and master's programs in social sciences. They spoke with numerous students and lecturers at the University of Freiburg and reviewed the syllabi of selected seminars at both universities. They also participated in organizing the SDG University Day "De-Colonizing Partnerships." A recommendation paper providing suggestions for the University of Freiburg and its faculty will be published soon.

In Accra, the student team broadened their perspective and took a historical approach. Through numerous interviews and intensive research in university archives, they traced the efforts to decolonize the University of Ghana, which was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast under British colonial rule. The Institute of African Studies (IAS) at UG played a central role, having been established in 1961 by Ghana's then-president, Kwame Nkrumah, as one of the first centers for African studies on the continent.

The project is part of the Engagement Global ASA University Program. The program, which has existed since 1960 for development-related work and study stays abroad, has been able to be conducted in cooperation with universities since 2018. The Africa Centre for Transregional Research (ACT), the Arnold-Bergstraesser-Institut (ABI) Freiburg, and the Institute of African Studies (IAS) at the University of Ghana organized the project.

On the photo, from left to right: Abdul Karim Ibrahim (UG), Moritz Haupt (Engagement Global), Irene Appeaning Addo (UG), Nana Akua Agyapong (UG), Felix Ampoma (U Bayreuth), Vincent Stein (UFR), Frederike Wagner (BMZ)