The completed design and the full cost of the of Adwa Pan Africa University has not been finalized yet despite the fact that PM Hailemariam Desalegn and Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni laid the foundation nine months ago.
The Tigray Administration gave 150 hectares of land for the school but some houses in the given area needed to be relocated to begin the construction.
The committee, made a temporary design after getting feedback from religious leaders, historians, foreign and local scholars, politicians and other concerned bodies.
The draft design which was shown at a meeting in the presence of Hailemariam Desalegn on January 15 at Sheraton Addis Hotel included a building for Natural and Social Studies including Pan Africa studies and a wall which has a picture of patriots in the Adwa war, and nine arch shapes which symbolize the nine regions of the country .
Betew Belay who is head of the committee working to build the university, said they will have an international conference in a few months to obtain valuable feedback from local and foreign stakeholders.
“We sincerely thank Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn for his commitment to help us build the university and we are tirelessly working to involve stakeholders in the project and we will try our best to start the construction after we have completed the necessary steps.”
The PM has pledged 200 million birr from the government. He says the university will be effective on a global scale.
“Adwa is the victory of the our past generation the university will belong to the Ethiopian people, we will also have a museum that showing our bravery against foreign aggression and my government will do more to put this idea in to action.’’
Adwa Pan Africa University is the first of its kind in Ethiopia. It is being built to commemorate the Adwa victory.
Construction of the Adwa Pan African University was officially launched in the city of Adwa, Tigrai State in northern Ethiopia on April 23, 2017. The cornerstone laying ceremony was attended by many African leaders including the Nigerian, South African, Malawian, Liberian, and Burundian former presidents. In addition the current Vice President of Botswana, the Puntland administration president and other dignitaries from all over Africa attended the cornerstone laying ceremony
The Battle of Adwa was fought on March 2, 1896/Yekatit 23, 1889 according to the Ethiopian calendar between the Ethiopian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. This climactic battle of the first Italo-Ethiopian War, was a decisive defeat for Italy and secured Ethiopian sovereignty.
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