Abstract:
Universities have a leading role to play, nurturing innovative and enterprising graduates able to
compete in the global economy. This can be achieved by universities working closely with all
stakeholders and build strong partnerships to close skills mismatch gap that is apparent among
graduates in Sub Saharan African Universities who are unable to get employed yet jobs are
advertised and graduates with the right skills cannot be found. The study investigated the usability
of research findings in Universities in Sub Saharan Africa in solving community problems - turning
knowledge stocks into a profit opportunity; the use of Information Communication Technologies
(ICT) in Universities to promote knowledge acquisition, sharing and transfer; and, the level of
University- Public-Private partnership to promote utilization of knowledge generated in universities.
The study adopted a qualitative approach and targeted Senior University managers. It was found that
universities still face a challenge of disseminating their research findings especially to the business
community; the integration of ICT in the teaching-learning process in most universities is still at a
very low ebb and universities are still unable to forge viable partnerships especially with
industry/business community that could increase the usability of their research findings. African
universities also face a huge challenge of limited highly skilled human resource capacity to guide the
realization of break through research that can attract industry and increase the relevance and usability
of university research findings. It is recommended that universities build partnerships across
universities to enhance their research capacities and strive to build partnerships with all stakeholders
to improve on their relevance and competitiveness in a globalised economy. |
