The Cost of Knowledge: Reframing What Africa Pays for Open Science
October 19, 2026
The Association of African Universities (AAU) is pleased to announce the deployment of two strategic digital platforms – the MOODLE Learning Management System (LMS) and the DSPACE Institutional Repository – as part of its ongoing digital transformation agenda to strengthen online course delivery, research dissemination, knowledge management and digital collaboration across African Universities. The deployment represents a significant milestone in the AAU’s efforts to modernize its digital ecosystem and provide staff, member universities, researchers, academics and other stakeholders with secure, accessible and sustainable platforms for learning, knowledge sharing and institutional information management.
The deployment of Moodle provides the AAU with a flexible and scalable platform for delivering online and blended learning, professional development programmes, capacity-building initiatives, workshops and other training activities. The platform will support the development and delivery of structured online courses, learning materials, assessments, discussion forums and digital training resources. It will also provide opportunities for participants from universities and higher education institutions across Africa to access learning and capacity-building programmes remotely. The Moodle platform is expected to enhance the AAU’s capacity to deliver continental-scale digital training and professional development, while reducing geographical barriers to participation and improving the efficiency and reach of its capacity-building programmes.
Alongside Moodle, the AAU has deployed DSPACE as its Institutional Repository, providing a centralized digital platform for collecting, preserving, organizing and disseminating the Association’s scholarly and institutional knowledge assets. The repository will provide access to selected AAU publications, research outputs, reports, policy documents, conference materials, technical reports, working papers, presentations and other institutional resources. The DSPACE platform will contribute to the preservation of the AAU’s institutional memory and improve the visibility, accessibility and discoverability of African higher education knowledge and research outputs.
According to Dr. Thomas Songu, Head of Information Technology at the AAU: “The deployment of Moodle and DSpace marks an important step in the AAU’s digital transformation journey. These platforms will enable us to expand digital learning, strengthen institutional knowledge management, improve access to research and support more effective collaboration among African universities.”
The Association will explore opportunities to connect these platforms with its broader digital ecosystem and develop additional services that respond to the evolving needs of African universities.
For further information, please contact:
Department of Information Technology
Association of African Universities (AAU)
Accra, Ghana
