Abstract
An acute shortage of appropriately-skilled engineers constrains economic growth and hinders
sustainable development. This challenge is shared by most countries in Southern Africa, albeit at
different scales. Recession in the region at the turn of the new millennium led to an exodus of
experienced professionals, including engineers, seeking work abroad. As a result, most Higher
Education Institutions (HEIs) have had to appoint fresh graduate engineers with little or no
practical experience to offer training to future engineers. Realising this, the Royal Academy of
Engineering (RAE) has partnered with the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Zimbabwe
(UZ) to implement a project to enrich engineering education in Southern Africa in collaboration
with other regional institutions and partners from industry. The broad objective of the project is
to empower the young and inexperienced academics as well as reskill the senior ones through
industrial attachments, professional training, knowledge sharing workshops and collaborations
with other institutions. The project has recorded significant progress in all areas that were
planned for implementation and plans are underway to establish a robust and sustainable
network of Southern African Engineering Education Institutions, which by sharing and
disseminating knowledge and best practices in engineering education will stimulate a synergistic
raising of standards in engineering education across the region. This paper outlines progress
that has been made since the inception of the project in August 2013 and strategises on ways in
which engineering capacity can be built and sustained at these institutions by scaling up the
project beyond the current phase