29/05/2026
FEF ETHIOPIA - International Conference, 19-21 May 2026, Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia
Autonomy-centered Internationalization
As part of the project “Supporting the Reform of Higher Education Governance in Ethiopia” (2024–2026), funded by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, the French Embassy in Ethiopia, in collaboration with France Éducation International, have organized the project’s final conference.
The conference aimed to reframe internationalisation in African universities by shifting the measure of success from mobility and visibility to institutional autonomy, ensuring global engagement strengthens control over curriculum, data, partnerships, and the future.
The proposed sessions reframe internationalisation in African universities around institutional autonomy rather than just mobility, visibility, or rankings. It advances the core proposition that internationalisation which does not increase universities’ control over their curriculum, data, partnerships, and future, constitutes structured dependence.
Across three days, meaningful themes have been addressed around plenaries and breakout sessions:
• Day 1 : What is autonomy-centered Internationalization ?
Autonomy is the new Internationalization : Rewriting the rules of Global Academic Engagement
Purpose : Reframe Internationalization as a question of institutional control, decision-making power, and long-term resilience
• Day 2 : Curriculum Design and Student Employability
Curriculum as the first site of autonomy : Who owns the curriculum ?
Purpose : Examine how global standards can be integrated without replacing local relevance or epistemic authority; position curriculum ownership as foundational to institutional strength and shared understanding of employability as an autonomy-enhancing, not compromising outcome
• Day 3 : Partnerships and Networks
Partnerships are not neutral : Negotiating asymmetry in international cooperation.
Purpose : Address the political economy of international partnerships and networks; provide constructive frameworks for negotiation, governance, and capacity transfer
Keynote speakers :
Mady Bathily
Fatou Esteoule
Frédéric Fleury
Catherine Kunyanga
Stéphane Lopez
Françoise Moulin Civil
Ada Peter
Françoise Profit
Thanks to the Ministry of Education Ethiopia, the Ambassade de France en Éthiopie et auprès de l'Union africaine የፈረንሳይ ኤምባሲ for its support, the France Éducation international team and to all the Ethiopian participants who made this event a success! 🎉