Arusha city is located in the north-eastern corner of Tanzania. It was named after the local tribe Wa-Arusha, who are also known as Larusa by the Maasai. Arusha is a home to approximately 1.7 million people where about 740,442 live in the urban area/city (NBS Census 2012), making it the third largest city in Tanzania. The population growth rate is tagged to the national average of 2.7%.
Arusha city is a global tourist destination and is the center of the northern Tanzania safari circuit. The city is surrounded by several national parks and reserves, but predominantly, at the close proximity of Mount Kilimanjaro the highest free standing mountain in Africa, approximately one hour drive from the city center, Ngorongoro Crater where surprisingly humans coexist in harmony with the wild, and the Serengeti National Park which is a home to thousands of wild animals, including the fascinating wildebeests and zebras migration. The three were recently declared among seven natural wonders of Africa, making it the best safari destination in the world.
A few miles away from the city, you will find the Mererani mining site, where the Tanzanite gemstones are found. The jewel that is 1000+ times rarer than diamonds are only found at the footsteps of Mount Kilimanjaro in the United Republic of Tanzania.
One of the most popular dishes of Arusha is Nyama Choma, a northern Tanzanian barbeque dish. Nyama Choma is properly served with a side of Pili Pili sauce and a cold local beer or soda. Indeed, Arusha has always been on the list of the must visit places and the destination of choice to many.
CLIMATE
Despite its proximity to the equator, Arusha’s elevation of 1,400 metres (4,600ft) on the southern slopes of Mount Meru keeps temperatures relatively low and alleviates humidity. Cool dry air is prevalent for much of the year. The temperature ranges between 13 and 30 Celsius with an average around 25 degrees. It has distinct wet and dry seasons, and experiences an eastern prevailing wind from the Indian Ocean, a couple of hundred miles east.
CONFERENCES IN ARUSHA AND REFERENCES
Arusha city is a major international diplomatic hub and the de facto capital of the East African Community, EAC (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi) which is head quartered since its establishment back in 1999. Being considered as 4th best preferred conferencing destination in Africa as per the International Congress and Conference Association (ICCA) ranking statistics 2014, the city of Arusha hosts dozens of economic, academic, professional, political and many more conferences cultural and artistic festivals yearly.
ABOUT THE NELSON MANDELA AFRICAN INSTITUTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (NM-AIST) WEBSITE WWW.NMAIST.AC.TZ
The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) in Arusha is one in a network of Pan-African Institutions of Science and Technology located across Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These institutions, which are the proud brainchild of the late Nelson Mandela, envision training and developing the next generation of African scientists and engineers with a view to impacting profoundly on the continent’s development through the application of Science, Engineering and Technology and Innovation (SETI).
The NM-AIST, which is accredited by the Tanzania Commission for Universities (TCU) is being developed into a world class research intensive institution for postgraduate and post-docs studies and research in SETI. The training in SETI, however, incorporates appreciable doses of relevant business studies and humanities ingredients. Thus the training curricular also incorporate strong innovation and entrepreneurship features, and hence strong academia-industry relations are part of the NM-AIST’s development agenda. NM-AIST’s curricular also seek to accommodate, enable, stimulate and catalyze the innovation and entrepreneurship qualities inherent in the Y-generation for the benefit of SSA’s sustainable development.
Vision
The Vision of NM-AIST is to become a world-class institution of higher learning dedicated to the pursuit and promotion of excellence in Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI), and their applications for economic growth and sustainable development in Africa.
Mission
The Mission is to deliver and promote high quality and internationally competitive teaching and learning, research and innovation, and public service in Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI) leveraging on entrepreneurship for enhanced value addition to people and natural resources, with a view to stimulating, catalyzing and promoting economic growth and sustainable development in Tanzania and SSA.
Core Values
i. Integrity, intellectual honesty and ethical conduct in all endeavours;
ii. Excellence and pursuit of the best possible performance and solutions;
iii. Commitment and institutional pride, among staff, students and alumni;
iv. Responsibility and sense of urgency in the face of problems and critical situations of society;
v. Appreciation of diversity in academic life and university undertakings;
vi. Creativity, innovation and techno-preneurship in addressing the needs, problems and challenges;
vii. Solidarity, spirit of service and empathy for unselfish service;
viii. Collaboration, partnerships and cooperation to leverage all possible synergies.
The goal of NM-AIST is to catalyze the development of world-class SETI through the production of high-quality scientists and engineers in EA to stimulate economic growth and employment creation. Pursuant to this goal, the objective of NM-AIST is to educate the next generation of African scientists and engineers by equipping them with the technical, entrepreneurial and leadership capacities to solve African problems thereby contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the economic and social transformation of EA and SSA.
The specific objectives for which NM-AIST has been established are to:
1. Increase the number and improve the quality of science and engineering Master’s and PhD graduates;
2. Catalyze the development of world class SETI in SSA;
3. Provide the best facilities for Master’s, PhD and post-doctorate studies and research;
4. Bridge between research and industrial development through:-
a. Strong link with industry for technology transfer; and
b. Establishment of technology-cum-business incubators and innovation centres and eventually a technology park within its premises for seeding innovations and spinning-off competitive technological firms.
5. Improve the relevance (to society and industry) and quality of SET research and innovations;
6. Develop linkages with the business sector (public and private) to utilize research in improving the quality, productivity and competitiveness of the local industry and businesses generally, and hence promote growth.
Core Values
i. Integrity, intellectual honesty and ethical conduct in all endeavours;
ii. Excellence and pursuit of the best possible performance and solutions;
iii. Commitment and institutional pride, among staff, students and alumni;
iv. Responsibility and sense of urgency in the face of problems and critical situations of society;
v. Appreciation of diversity in academic life and university undertakings;
vi. Creativity, innovation and techno-preneurship in addressing the needs, problems and challenges;
vii. Solidarity, spirit of service and empathy for unselfish service;
viii. Collaboration, partnerships and cooperation to leverage all possible synergies.
The goal of NM-AIST is to catalyze the development of world-class SETI through the production of high-quality scientists and engineers in EA to stimulate economic growth and employment creation. Pursuant to this goal, the objective of NM-AIST is to educate the next generation of African scientists and engineers by equipping them with the technical, entrepreneurial and leadership capacities to solve African problems thereby contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and the economic and social transformation of EA and SSA.
The specific objectives for which NM-AIST has been established are to:
1. Increase the number and improve the quality of science and engineering Master’s and PhD graduates;
2. Catalyze the development of world class SETI in SSA;
3. Provide the best facilities for Master’s, PhD and post-doctorate studies and research;
4. Bridge between research and industrial development through:-
a. Strong link with industry for technology transfer; and
b. Establishment of technology-cum-business incubators and innovation centres and eventually a technology park within its premises for seeding innovations and spinning-off competitive technological firms.
5. Improve the relevance (to society and industry) and quality of SET research and innovations;
6. Develop linkages with the business sector (public and private) to utilize research in improving the quality, productivity and competitiveness of the local industry and businesses generally, and hence promote growth.