Agha Egwu Inya
The Africa Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Power and Energy Development (ACE-SPED), University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), will be participating in the Smart-City Summit and Expo, which will hold in Taipei, Taiwan, from March 17 to 20th, 2026.
Director of ACE-SPED, Professor Emenike Ejiogu, made this disclosure recently when the Taiwanese Ambassador to Nigeria, His Excellency Andy Yih-Ping Liu, made a tour of the Centre during his two-day visit to the University to explore areas of collaboration.
At ACE-SPED, Prof. Ejiogu showcased the Centre’s advanced research infrastructure and innovation capacity, providing a platform for discussions on joint research projects, academic exchange programmes, and institutional development between UNN and Taiwanese institutions.
Facilities presented during the tour at ACE-SPED included the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Laboratory, the 3D Innovation Laboratory, and the Centre of Competence for Digital Education and Content Creation Studio.
The visit, led by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Professor Simon Uchenna Ortuanya, also took the Ambassador to the Faculty of the Social Sciences, which currently hosts the temporary office of the new International Centre for Africa-Taiwan Economic, Regional and Security Studies; the proposed permanent site for the Centre; the Faculty of Vocational and Technical Education; and the Scholars’ Village, where foreign students are accommodated.
Professor Ortuanya described the visit as part of UNN’s broader vision to deepen international research and innovation partnerships and position the University as a leading hub for policy-relevant research and innovation in Africa.
According to him, collaboration with Taiwanese institutions will extend beyond security studies to include engineering, technology, agriculture, and other strategic areas.
“Our goal is to use the University of Nigeria as a base for spreading a mutually-beneficial relationship between African universities and Taiwanese institutions,” the Vice-Chancellor said.
He also revealed that the University of Nigeria will equally establish a Centre for African Studies in Taiwan.
“We will also establish a Centre for African Studies in Taiwan so that the world will know what we are doing,” he added.
The Ambassador’s visit builds on discussions held during Professor Ortuanya’s official visit to Taiwan in October 2025 and aligns with UNN’s plan to establish an International Centre for African and Taiwan Studies aimed at promoting education, research, innovation, business development, and cross-regional collaboration.
Commending the University of Nigeria for its forward-looking approach to international cooperation, Ambassador Liu expressed enthusiasm about the prospects of long-term partnerships that would benefit students, researchers, and staff while addressing shared development challenges.
He pledged to lead a scholarly delegation from Taiwan to UNN to further fine-tune areas of the collaboration.
In another development, a postgraduate student of the Centre, Ruth Kooaka Dorgbaa, has emerged as one of the beneficiaries of the 2026 Optica scholar grant for women in photonics and engineering.
Ruth is among the ten researchers selected globally for the highly competitive grant, which is meant to support her studies from Masters to the PhD levels.
Ruth has carved a niche for herself in the field of sustainable energy research through her work on next-generation solar technologies.
Ruth, a materials science engineer and researcher at the Nano Research Laboratory of UNN, is currently pursuing her Master’s degree.
