Following Damtew Teferra's clear argument in this newsletter see International Higher Education no. 20) in support of endowing universities on African soil, the cases of three universities may serve to demonstrate that endowments can be well managed, contribute to institutional sustainability, and lead to transnational collaboration with students, faculty and administrators throughout the world.

The three institutions are the University of Nairobi, the American University of Cairo, and the University of the Western Cape. Each institution received a U.S.$1 million endowment under the Ryoichi Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) Program, a collaborative project of the Nippon Foundation and the Tokyo Foundation. The same conditions applied in each case-that is, the universities should be committed to managing the endowments to ensure that a predetermined portion of the earnings are returned to the capital to sustain growth over the long-term and use disposable income to provide fellowships to graduate students in the social sciences and humanities. Each institution is empowered to administer the fellowship program and to promote follow-up programs that are separately implemented and funded by the Tokyo Foundation.

Profile of Endowments and Contributions
When the University of Nairobi received its SYLFF endowment in 1989, it already had one other small endowment for general institutional support that was established in 1970 during its period as the University College Nairobi. The university has sought additional endowments from national and international sources but has not received further contributions thus far.

In 1992, when the SYLFF endowment was presented to The American University in Cairo, there were already 45 smaller endowments for scholarships and visiting, short-term scholars. The SYLFF endowment was the largest, and SYLFF fellowships derived from the endowment became the most prestigious. Since then, the university has actively sought further contributions and currently reports 110 funds of varying amounts, including two endowed chairs and substantial foundation support for the university's Center for Arabic Study Abroad. Endowments and contributions comprise 28 percent of the university's total annual revenue.

The University of the Western Cape boasted a development fund, established in the early 1980s, for general institutional support, which continues to support the university's building program. The awarding of the SYLFF endowment in 1995 has been followed by the establishment of two additional endowments sufficiently capitalized to ensure in perpetuity an endowed chair in chemistry and a bursary fund for high-achieving science students. Another chair in the humanities has been jointly established with the University of Cape Town. Moreover, the university has received endowment-like fixed-term grants for a chair in information systems and a chair in management, each guaranteed for five-years. In 1999, contributions from private sources amounted to 8 percent of the University of the Western Cape's total revenue.

Effective Management Produces Growth
The establishment and management of SYLFF endowments, administration of SYLFF fellowship programs, and promotion of follow-up programs has called for close cooperation between the foundation and the universities. The relationship has shifted from guidance in the early stages of preparing for the presentation of the endowment to collaboration in the current stage of fine-tuning of fund management and administration of the fellowship programs, and program development beyond the shores of the African continent.

Issues related to endowments are not exclusive to the African continent. The conception and implementation of an endowment is not widely understood by many prospective recipients. However, the SYLFF experience of empowering the receiving institutions, ongoing collaboration between the foundation and universities, networking among more and less experienced institutions in the network, and providing follow-up programs, including professional development training demonstrates that institutions on African soil and elsewhere can indeed manage endowments and administer programs. University administrators acquire the requisite knowledge, understanding and skills that carry over to other programs. Furthermore, in an increasing number of cases, existing endowments are used as leverage to attract other contributions.

Endowing African universities is not an audacious initiative but a sound investment in the future by the recipient and the donor. The recipient commits to fulfilling the conditions put forward by the donor, which in the best cases are jointly developed, and to ensuring that the endowment is integrated into an institutional strategy and action plan for sustained growth. The donor supports the university by providing the funds and offering follow-up programs and activities that not only help ensure sustained growth but also expand the opportunities for the university beyond the parameters of the endowment.