oday, June 24, 2025, twenty (20) Tanzanian students graduated from a six-month joint engineering program between the National Institute of Transport (NIT) and the Kenya Institute of Highways and Building Technology (KIHBT) at the NIT Mabibo Campus.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony, Dr. Prosper Mgaya, Rector of NIT, announced that NIT and KIHBT formalized their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Understanding in October 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya. This collaboration operates under the umbrella of the World Bank's East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP). Dr. Mgaya stated that following the signing, discussions focused on implementing a student exchange and mobility program to fulfill EASTRIP's requirement for regional enrollment in long-course programs.
On his side Dr. Chacha Ryoba, Center Leader of the NIT Center of Excellence in Transport Operations under EASTRIP, elaborated on the program structure. He stated that each institution enrolled twenty students in two distinct programs: Power Train and Suspension Systems and Construction Material and Testing.
NIT students completed a one-month in-person phase of the program in Kenya, followed by five months of online instruction delivered by KIHBT lecturers. Conversely, KIHBT students completed a one-month in-person phase in Tanzania, followed by five months of online instruction delivered by NIT lecturers. While the Kenyan students graduated on June 19, 2025, the Tanzanian students received their certifications today, June 24, 2025. The graduates expressed optimism and enthusiasm for their future endeavors in the engineering field.