NEW DELHI: IIT-Madras’ first offshore campus is set to be inaugurated in Tanzania’s Zanzibar early next month, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Tuesday.

The minister also said the Centre is encouraging top skill development institutions in India to go to Tanzania and other African countries. He said he will be visiting the African country for the pivotal role it is playing in promoting education.

Pradhan made the announcements at an event to confer on Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is on a four-day visit to India, an honorary doctorate by the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“I am happy that the first offshore campus of any IIT is being set up in Zanzibar. I am told that IIT-Madras’ Zanzibar campus is scheduled to be inaugurated early next month,” he said.

“This institute will prove to be a milestone in educational cooperation between two nations and continents by providing students from Tanzania and other African countries access to world-class engineering and technology education, which will help in nation-building and drive economic growth, technology, research and innovation in Africa,” Pradhan added.

An MoU, signed in July between India and Tanzania, was the final procedural step that paved the way for the opening of the campus.