Solomon Jatta, a graduate of the KNUST–USET engineering partnership, has been promoted from private to lieutenant in the Gambian military.

Jatta, who holds a BSc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, will serve as a Naval Engineering Officer.

He studied under the collaboration between the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi (KNUST), and The Gambia University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET).

The partnership forms part of efforts to develop engineering expertise within The Gambia. Through the World Bank-funded African Centres of Excellence for Development Impact initiative, KNUST supported the transformation of the Gambia Technical Training Institute into a degree-awarding university.

The collaboration was formalised in December 2019, when a KNUST delegation led by then Vice-Chancellor Professor Kwasi Obiri-Danso visited The Gambia. The visit included a meeting with President Adama Barrow and the signing of a memorandum of understanding to support the establishment of USET.

Under the partnership, KNUST provided teaching, curriculum development, research training and administrative mentorship. Its lecturers delivered courses in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering, with course materials adapted from KNUST programmes. The collaboration also supported doctoral training for staff to strengthen USET’s teaching and research capacity.

USET held its inaugural engineering graduation ceremony in Brikama on June 21, 2025, with President Barrow presiding. KNUST described the graduates as The Gambia’s first cohort of locally trained engineers, marking a milestone in the country’s efforts to build its own engineering workforce.