Chad Hosts the First CAMES Heads of State Summit: A Historic Moment for African Higher Education

1. CAMES: 58 Years of Francophone Academic Integration

Founded on January 26, 1968, in Libreville, the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES) is the intergovernmental organisation responsible for promoting cooperation and resource-sharing among the higher education and research systems of francophone Africa and Madagascar. It currently brings together 19 member states and constitutes one of the few institutional frameworks enabling mutual recognition of degrees and academic qualifications at a sub-regional scale.

CAMES fulfils three core functions. The first is the qualification and promotion of academic staff, carried out by the Inter-African Advisory Committees (CCI), which review the qualification and promotion applications of university faculty across the CAMES area. The second is programme accreditation and degree recognition — an essential lever for the mobility of graduates between member countries. The third is scientific oversight, particularly through the CAMES Scientific Days (JSDC), whose 7th edition was held in Lomé in March 2026.

Chad maintains an active relationship with CAMES. In 2025, N'Djamena hosted the 47th session of the Inter-African Advisory Committees (July 2025), marking the return of the CCI to in-person format after the pandemic period — a significant milestone in consolidating cooperation between Chad and the institution.

2. The 43rd Libreville Ministerial Session: A Political Signal

From June 15 to 19, 2026, Libreville hosted the 43rd ordinary session of the CAMES Council of Ministers, bringing together representatives from 16 of the 19 member states — a record participation. Technical work by the Committee of Experts (June 15–16) preceded the ministerial session (June 18–19), officially opened by Gabon's Minister of Higher Education representing Head of State Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema.

At the close of proceedings, ministers adopted several recommendations on strengthening the quality, governance and performance of higher education and research systems across the CAMES area. But it was a political decision that most marked this session: the ministerial delegation formally requested the Gabonese head of state's support for the forthcoming CAMES Summit of Heads of State and Government.

This Summit was institutionalised in 2018, during the celebration of CAMES' 50th anniversary, when the heads of state present decided to make it a triennial meeting to reaffirm high-level political commitment to African higher education. It has never yet been held. — African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education, 2018–2026

It is in this context that Chad is preparing to host what will be an unprecedented event in the history of francophone African academic integration.

3. Why N'Djamena, Why Now?

The organisation of the first CAMES Heads of State Summit in N'Djamena is not coincidental. It reflects a broader dynamic of diplomatic and institutional repositioning by Chad, which has hosted a growing number of high-level regional events in recent years — from CEMAC summits to inter-African dialogue processes and sectoral institutional meetings.

On the academic front, Chad has engaged since 2025 in a series of structural reforms to its educational system: adoption of full French-Arabic bilingualism in education, creation of a Strategic Committee on the Educational System, and revival of debate on baccalaureate reform. These reforms create a favourable context for a summit whose political agenda should map the major orientations of African higher education for the coming decades.

Finally, Chad's geographical position — at the heart of the continent, at the crossroads of the Sahel, Central Africa and East Africa — lends it symbolic legitimacy to host an event that concerns 19 nations with convergent challenges but contrasting situations.

4. Five Strategic Priorities for Chad at the Summit

Beyond its host role, Chad has a rare opportunity to shape the content of the Summit's agenda. Five strategic priorities deserve to be championed by the Chadian delegation.

1. Mutual recognition of degrees and academic mobility. Strengthening the legal framework for degree recognition between member states remains the foundation of any meaningful academic integration. Chad, whose graduates seek to have their qualifications recognised abroad and whose universities host students from the sub-region, has a direct interest in harmonising competency frameworks and accelerating recognition procedures.
2. Digital higher education and shared learning platforms. The CAMES area still lacks a common digital infrastructure for distance learning, shared pedagogical resources, or electronic degree certification. Chad, in the process of deploying its national digital policy, can position itself as the champion of a CAMES initiative for shared university digital infrastructure.
3. Financing African scientific research. Research across the CAMES area suffers from chronic underfunding. The Summit can serve as a platform to call for the creation of a CAMES Research Fund, financed by contributions from member states and technical and financial partners, modelled on the African Union's African Science Fund.
4. Gender parity and inclusion in higher education. Women remain significantly under-represented among academic staff qualified by CAMES. Chad can champion a targeted initiative to promote women's careers in research and higher education, in line with its commitments on gender equality in education.
5. Anchoring CAMES within national development strategies. One of CAMES' persistent challenges is the gap between its programmes and national higher education policies. The Summit must produce a strengthened political monitoring mechanism — annual ministerial meetings, common performance indicators — that translates heads of state commitments into measurable public policies.

5. Recommendations for Organising the Summit

Beyond substantive priorities, the success of the Summit rests on several organisational and diplomatic conditions. First, the preparation of an orientation document — a "N'Djamena Declaration" — that translates heads of state commitments into a five-year roadmap for higher education across the CAMES area, with measurable country-level targets.

Second, involving Chadian universities and student organisations in the Summit's preparation would strengthen its academic legitimacy and ground it in the lived reality of students across the CAMES area. Prior consultations with faculty deans, university presidents and Chadian student associations would give the Summit an unprecedented participatory dimension.

Third, the Summit is an opportunity to position N'Djamena as the future host of a CAMES regional office for Central Africa — an institutional presence that would lastingly strengthen Chad's role in the francophone academic architecture.

Finally, organising the first CAMES Heads of State Summit in Chad is a top-tier diplomatic event that deserves careful national and international media coverage, involving Chadian public media, technical partners and the embassies of all 19 member states.

6. Conclusion: A Diplomacy of Intelligence in Chad's Interest

By hosting the first CAMES Heads of State Summit, Chad is not merely receiving an event. It is taking its place among the countries that shape the agenda of francophone African higher education. This diplomacy of intelligence — in the literal sense of a diplomacy that advances knowledge, training and research — is one of the most durable forms of continental influence.

CAMES' 58 years have shown that African academic integration is possible, but fragile — dependent on the constancy of political engagement. The N'Djamena Summit must be the moment of renewal of the pact between heads of state in the francophone area and their universities. Chad has the historical, geographical and political means to make this first summit a genuine turning point.

Sources

• CAMES: Libreville to host the 43rd Ordinary Session of the CAMES Council of Ministers, lecames.org, June 2026.
• Chadian Ministry of Higher Education: Opening of the Committee of Experts of the 43rd Ordinary Session in Libreville, mesrsfp.gouv.td, June 17, 2026.
• Gouvernement.ga: 43rd CAMES Session: Council of Ministers meets in Libreville, June 19, 2026.
• Gabonreview: CAMES — Libreville at the Heart of Strategic Decisions for African Higher Education, gabonreview.com, June 2026.
• CAMES: Chad and CAMES formalise cooperation for the return of the CCI to in-person format, lecames.org, 2025.
• AllAfrica / Gabonews: 43rd Ordinary Session of CAMES 2026 in Libreville, Gabon, June 2026.