Our partnerships in Africa & The Middle East
Below are some of the partners that we have worked with so far with the Pan Africa Chemistry Network. We are always keen to speak to new individuals and organisations who support our ambitions for Africa.
Corporate partnerships
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)
In 2015, we launched a five year partnership with GSK to provide analytical training for African-based scientists through the Pan African Chemistry Network (PACN).
This partnership, which extended through to 2022, built on our experience of running Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) training courses in Africa over the previous 10 years. Between 2006 and 2015 we trained over 100 chemists, who went on to publish more than 20 articles in scientific journals.
The expanded programme built on existing knowledge and provided opportunities to develop specialist skills in widely accepted analytical techniques, giving scientists across Africa the chance to apply their expertise on a global scale.
This partnership enabled us to:
- deliver analytical sciences training courses at our activity hubs in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria
- train an additional 520 scientists between 2015 to 2022
- commission a tailored GC-MS textbook for all course participants
- help all of our PACN Hub universities to maintain their analytical facilities
- involve GSK expert staff as volunteer trainers
- develop 15 independent local trainers, creating a self-sustaining programme and a strong legacy.
Find out more about our partnership with GSK here.
Procter & Gamble (P&G)
From December 2011, P&G worked with the Pan Africa Chemistry Network (PACN) to develop talent in the chemical sciences. P&G made a significant investment to develop skills and increase science capacity within Africa; collaborating with leading scientists and students to exchange knowledge and generate opportunities for innovation in the areas of hygiene, health and waste.
With P&G’s generous support we established two new centres of excellence in analytical chemistry at the University of Lagos and the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. P&G donated equipment and provided experts who offered technical support and industrial experience to the centres.
In February 2016, we held the 4th joint Royal Society of Chemistry P&G Symposium returning to the inaugural host city of Lagos focusing on the importance of the Chemical Sciences and Technology for Growth in Africa. This series of symposia provided an opportunity to build relationships between academia and industrial partners across the PACN, boosting knowledge and skills in research and publishing while empowering African students through opportunities such as internships.
Further, through their collaboration laboratory at the University of Lagos in Nigeria, P&G supported a number of academic internships through this innovative model which provides collaborative industrial-academic research projects.
Professional bodies & funders
Federation of African Societies of Chemistry (FASC)
FASC was established in 2006, and aims to promote collaboration throughout the community of chemists and chemical scientists in Africa. We collaborate with FASC by participating in scientific meetings and supporting African scientists through the Pan African Chemistry Network (PACN).
South African Chemical Institute (SACI)
In March 2007, we signed an international cooperation agreement with the SACI. Through the agreement we have co-organised symposia through the Pan African Chemistry Network (PACN). This agreement was re-signed in June 2012 and again in 2018.
