RENS in Africa

Sharing news from Africa’s Research & Education community, amplifying African RENs, and preserving AfricaConnect knowledge. @ubuntunet @wacren

[WACREN @WACREN]

We are honoured to announce that H.E. Adama Barrow, President of The Gambia, will officially open the WACREN 2026 Conference in Banjul! 🇬🇲🇬🇲🇬🇲

Read more on our updated Conference website - https://t.co/Czuzk7igd9. View the schedule and speakers' line-up for the Conference. ✈️✈️

[RENU @RENU_256]

2026 RENU Industrial Trainee Program

Are you a university student eager to gain hands-on experience in a dynamic tech environment? Don't miss this opportunity to level up your skills with RENU’s Industrial Trainee Program.

The call for applications for our Industrial Training Program is out!

Apply now: https://t.co/TZePAxBBCF
Deadline: Friday 31st March 2026 at 5.00 pm EAT

Challenge yourself, and submit your application today!

[LIBSENSE @LIBSENSE]

LIBSENSE will host the Open Science Symposium – The Gambia 🇬🇲 as a pre-event to #WACREN2026 in Banjul. Bringing together university leaders, librarians, policymakers, researchers, IT directors & national agencies to catalyse national #OpenScience policy development.

[Kenet @kenet_ke]

@kenet_ke, led by the ED Prof. Meoli Kashorda, hosted the leadership of the Internet Society Foundation, including Joyce Dogniez, Vice President, Empowerment and Outreach; Chris Burns, Vice President, Philanthropy; and Stephanie Sparks, Vice President, Revenue Generation.

[RENU @RENU_256]

KobWeb Magazine 2025 is officially out! 🥳

For 20 years, we’ve connected institutions.
Along the way, we’ve built stories worth telling.

This edition brings together the voices of our Research and Education community. The innovators. The partners. The changemakers. The people who have grown with us and helped shape Uganda’s digital education landscape.

As we celebrate 20 years of RENU, this magazine reflects on the journey, the milestones, and the real impact made possible through connection, collaboration and community.

Take a moment to read the stories. You are part of them.

Read the full edition here

https://t.co/n0ub8jEV14

To view previous editions, visit https://t.co/rE8AVY2bF5

[RENU @RENU_256]

Taking @eduroam on the Go to the Research Community 🛜

Last week, we held an awareness campaign at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) and Medical Research Council (MRC) , some of our research member institutions, where we showcased our eduroam on the Go device and demonstrated how staff and researchers can extend secure, reliable Internet access beyond physical campus spaces.

eduroam on the Go is a portable, pocket-size routing device that enables researchers and member institutional staff to set up secure Wi-Fi access wherever it is needed. Whether it is a workshop, field activity, conference, temporary site, or outreach event, users connect using their existing institutional credentials just like they would while on campus.

The device keeps researchers and institutional staff securely connected wherever their work or studies take them without the need to create new accounts while ensuring safe, encrypted access to the Internet.

We appreciate the warm engagement we received from the UVRI community and the opportunity to demonstrate how our eduroam on the Go device supports research and innovation environments.

For more information about the product, visit https://t.co/QSdHoKn0wF or reach out at [email protected].

@UVRIug @MRC_Uganda

[ASREN @ASRENorg]

🔗 Register here: https://t.co/1Q8UiO9pb9

#OpenScience #PolicyWriting #EUMEDPlus #ASREN #SESAME #ResearchPolicy

[LIBSENSE @LIBSENSE]

#LIBSENSE is hosting an #OpenScience Leadership Workshop on April 28-29, 2026, for early career researchers in Nigeria.
🔹 For co-creating leadership frameworks and toolkits.
🔹 Selected participants will become ECR Champions
Deadline: Feb. 28, 2026
https://t.co/CUiDNPwvQZ

[RENU @RENU_256]

20 Years, 200 Gbps! 🎉

RENU marks 20 years of connecting Uganda’s research and education community with a major milestone.

Our national backbone network has been upgraded to 200 Gbps, expanding capacity across the entire network and strengthening our ability to support digital learning, data intensive research, innovation, and global collaboration.

The upgrade was made possible through sustained planning, strong partnerships, and international collaboration, including support from @sikt_research , the Norwegian National Research and Education Network.

This upgrade reflects years of growth, strong partnerships, and a shared commitment to building reliable, affordable, and future ready infrastructure for our members.

From enabling high volume research data transfers to supporting eduroam, campus networks, and emerging AI driven use cases, the 200 Gbps backbone is built for today and ready for what comes next.

Thank you to our members and partners who continue to build this journey with us.

For more details, read our press release using the link below;

https://t.co/nXTUZcwIvp

[RENS in Africa @AC3_News]

Exciting news as the Botswana Research and Education network (BOTSREN), part of the @UbuntuNet Alliance, upgrade to a network capacity of 20GBps. Read more about it here: https://t.co/NI6RLNoHOg

[RENU @RENU_256]

20 Years of Connection, Collaboration and Community 🥳

2026 marks our 20-Year Anniversary – for two decades we’ve advanced research and education through trusted Connectivity, Collaboration, and solutions empowering Communities.

Thank you to our members, partners, and team for being part of this journey.

Here’s to the future we continue to build together.

[WACREN @WACREN]

🎉 Early bird registration for #WACREN2026 is officially open! Head here - https://t.co/e0T0koeh68

Register now and secure your Early Bird spot with a discounted conference fees. Don’t miss out on joining us in Banjul 🇬🇲on March 26 & 27, 2026. #Research #Education #Africa

[WACREN @WACREN]

📢 Excited to announce #WACREN2026, happening 23–27 March 2026 in Banjul! We’ll explore how open, federated & community-driven digital ecosystems are shaping Africa’s digital future. Featuring initiatives like #LIBSENSE, @AfricaDigCampus, WACREN CLI-MET & #EduAI. @AC3_News

[UbuntuNet Alliance @UbuntuNet]

We’re excited to announce that UbuntuNet Alliance has been selected as an awardee of the @InvestInOpen Infrastructure Fund for Network Adoption!

🔗 Full Announcement: https://t.co/NLHAeduD4N

#OpenScience #IOIFund #UbuntuNetAlliance #NRENs

[WACREN @WACREN]

At #TAS2025 in #Conakry, our PM Abigail Essel presented our emerging #EduAI Programme - a bold step toward building Africa’s trusted #AI infra for education. Most AI tools aren’t built with or for #Africa. EduAI will help change that by leveraging our infra and community🌍

[RENU @RENU_256]

Looking for free access to premium research journals?

With Research4Life, RENU member institutions can now explore a world of academic content, completely FREE!

Here’s how to access it in just 7 easy steps 

1. Go to the Research4Life Website
2. Click the dropdown menu and select “ACCESS CONTENT”
3. Next, click “LOG IN”
4. Choose “ACCESS VIA YOUR INSTITUTION (SSO)”
5. Select your institution — for example, "MAKERERE UNIVERSITY (IDP)"
6. Enter your username and password provided by your institution
7. Start exploring journals, books, and databases — all for free! 

Research4Life - Academic and professional content for the developing world!

Powered by RENU Identity Federation (RIF) - https://t.co/5VWNITHHUm

[Malawi Research and Education Network @Maren_net]

MAREN has upgraded its cloud system — solving past challenges of complex, hard-to-manage setups.

Now the system is faster, more flexible & reliable, powering Malawi’s education & research community.

#DigitalTransformation #MARENMalawi #Innovation

[UbuntuNet Alliance @UbuntuNet]

UbuntuNet-Connect 2025 was one to remember! In the coming weeks we will be taking you back the conference highlighting some of the key moments, workshops and key notes that took place!

Here's the Recap video!

https://t.co/LOdLKtSbKU

Remember to like share and subscribe!

[WACREN @WACREN]

WACREN, through @AC3_News & the @AfricaDigCampus, is supporting the full integration of FasoREN into the regional network - boosting research connectivity & collaboration in Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 This workshops will enhance the process. 💡

[LIBSENSE @LIBSENSE]

#LIBSENSE is proud to join the global 🌍#ScholarlyCommunication community in celebrating International #OpenAccessWeek 🔓2025 (Oct 20–26)!
👉 Explore our exciting line-up of activities for the week: https://t.co/etXvF63jZW
@COAR_eV @EIFLnet @DOAJplus @DOABooks @WACREN @AC3_News