The U.S. Agency for International Development and a Washington-based group, Higher Education for Development, today announced the awarding of $1-million in grants to 20 American and 20 African colleges for collaborations in agriculture, health care, and teacher training, among other crucial fields.

The announcement marks a significant step in a broad and ambitious effort to strengthen higher education in sub-Saharan African as a way to develop the region’s economy.

Each of the 20 winning proposals, selected from some 300 applications, will receive a grant of $50,000. Recipients include some research institutions with strong ties to Africa and reputations for undertaking international research projects. But a community college and several smaller liberal-arts institutions also are among the grantees.

The projects will focus on regional and national economic-development priorities. One partnership, between North Dakota State University and Makerere University, in Uganda, will create a regional center of excellence to improve surveillance, risk assessment, policy development, and response to potential pandemic diseases. Another partnership, between the University of the Pacific and the School of Finance and Banking, in Rwanda, will focus on microfinance and business, particularly as they relate to women’s economic empowerment in Rwanda and Uganda.

Higher Education for Development, an association of higher-education organizations that sponsors projects run jointly by colleges in the United States and abroad, will oversee the collaborations. —Karin Fischer