IIT Madras Zanzibar confers 3,518 degrees upon BTech, MTech, PhD students at 63rd convocation

The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) Zanzibar campus held its 63rd convocation event where it conferred 3,518 degrees, including 511 PhDs on 3,106 students. Hussein Ali Mwinyi, president of Zanzibar and chairman of the revolutionary council was the chief guest at the ceremony.

V Kamakoti, director at IIT Madras , awarded 812 BTech, and 302 dual degree BTech to engineering graduates. He also conferred 617 MTech 143 MSc, 123 MA, 53 executive MBA, 84 MBA, 32 PG diploma, and 201 MS degrees to postgraduate students.

Moreover, 511 PhD degrees, including 16 joint degrees with universities in foreign countries were also presented to PhD scholars during the event.

IIT Madras Zanzibar is India’s first international IIT campus. It provided degrees to improve academic excellence and technological advancements in Africa and across the world, according to an official statement.

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V Kamakoti, director, IIT Madras, said: “IIT Madras Zanzibar entered a transformative phase as an emerging hub of global higher education in East Africa. The campus currently hosts 130 students, with 51% from Tanzania and the remaining representing countries including Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and India. The inaugural M.Tech. graduating batch achieved 100% industrial placement, with students securing opportunities in leading organisations such as SuperDoll, Zantel and Airtel.”

“Looking ahead, IITMZ plans to expand enrolment to 350–500 students by 2027 through accelerated faculty recruitment, stronger industry engagement, enhanced research infrastructure and the development of East Africa's first research-integrated Startup Studio,” Kamakoti added.

Hussein Ali Mwinyi, president of Zanzibar, said: “Around the world, IIT Madras has become synonymous with academic excellence. Yet what has impressed me most is not only its remarkable reputation in engineering and scientific research, but its culture of innovation. It is an institution where ideas are encouraged to move beyond the classroom, beyond the laboratory and into society—creating enterprises, generating employment and solving real-world problems. That philosophy resonated deeply with our own aspirations.”

Following the convocation event, the Department Degree Distribution Programmes (D3P) were held in the various academic departments, where graduating students were conferred their degrees in person.