II in Cameroon (Central Africa); The Institute for Water and Energy Sciences (including Climate Change (PAUWES), hosted by the University of Tlemcen in Algeria (Northern Africa); and The Institute for Space Sciences (PAUSS) is to be hosted by a university in the Republic of South Africa (Southern Africa). When fully deployed, each PAU thematic institute will be linked to ten Satellite Centers with complementary thematic specializations, inter-and trans-disciplinary programs. At full operational capacity, the PAU will incorporate 50 centers of excellence under its five academic hubs across Africa. Implementation status PAU Institutes are currently operational in four of Africa's five regions (Western, Eastern, Central and Northern regions), whilst negotiations are ongoing to operationalize the fifth PAU Institute in Southern Africa. The first batch of 55 students graduated in Kenya in November 2014, and another batch graduated in November 2015 from the Life and Earth Sciences Institute in Nigeria. PAU has an existing student population of 314 with a new admissions list of 350 for the 2015/2016 academic year. The call for student applications for the 2015–2016 academic year attracted 5629 applicants, representing an overall increment of 361% from the previous year. The number of female applicants increased by 560.3 percent, and the proportion of female applicants increased across institutes. The January 2015 Summit of Heads of State and Government also appointed Tolly Mbwette (Tanzania) as the President and Paulo Horácio de Sequeira e Carvalho (Angola) as the Vice President of the PAU Council for a three-year term, based on regional nominations. The Commission proceeded to constitute the broader membership of the Council in line with provisions of the PAU Statute, and the PAU Council held its inaugural meeting on 25 June 2015 at the AUC Headquarters in Addis Ababa. The Council held its first meeting in June and an extraordinary meeting in October 2015. At both meetings, priority matters bordering on the project's progress and development were discussed, including the need to amend the PAU Statute to confer greater autonomy upon the university. The January 2015 Summit also selected the Republic of Cameroon to host the Pan African University Rectorate, following evaluation missions to the countries that applied to host the Rectorate including Benin, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Tunisia. Consultative communication has been ongoing between the Commission and the Government of Cameroon resulting in the adoption of a roadmap for the final relocation of the Rectorate to Yaoundé by the end