The Future of Education, Institutions and Economic Transformation in Africa toward 2050!

Africa, no doubt, is currently moving at a faster pace than any time in its history. The population is expected to swell by 2050, and it’s been estimated that more than 50% of the world’s youth population will reside on the continent. While Europe and China are to experience a massive reduction in workforce in the coming decades because of their ageing population, Africa’s average age remains incredibly young —19. What this means is that over the next twenty to thirty years, there will be a massive increase in Africa’s workforce—prodigious than China and India combined. This presents the continent with an incredible opportunity for employment opportunities and the empowerment of young people in driving change and innovation. With the continent’s rising population, the World Economic Forum reveals that 1.4 billion people will be expected to live in cities and urban settlements for better lives and search for opportunities. With this in prospect, we cannot validate to what extent we have critically ascertained the mechanics of the economic transformations needed in augmenting this boost. And Africa’s taste of consumption, like always, even after the decline of colonialism is expected to be driven towards mostly western appetite. But how prepared are we to cope with this? Do we have the technology needed for boom and growth as expected? Are our cities equipped enough for new inhabitants? How fast are we adapting for a change in our education system for collaboration toward the next decade? Are our education systems preparing students enough for the future ahead? What economic or political policies are we adopting in light of these prospects?

There can be no immediate response to these questions as most African countries are experiencing “takeoff” for the first time, and the future itself remains bleak for lack of institutions in driving change. African countries that experienced little economic growth in the 60s and 80s were merely in GDP terms, but even they were never able to put out with “crash prevention” because of political instability, inequality and the fragility of inherited colonial institutions. Post-1989 Ivory Coast and 2005 Madagascar give us a sense of the tragic effect of economies plummeting due to lack of inclusive economic and political institutions. However, Africa in the last two decades has come a long way, with reduction of coups, the democratisation of institutions, political participation, and peaceful assembly of citizens. This is no assertion toward perfection or true democracy, but the little change in Africa’s political space is epic, and so is the future ahead. To start from where development on the continent was stalled, we need to start by strengthening our institutions through smart policies and using politics as an instrument of change. The continent also has to start re-imagining and reinventing cities sustainably to empower and invest in innovations and entrepreneurship; “reimagining education” toward 21st-century skills, and investing in institutional changes toward accountability and political participation of the citizenry through free and fair elections.

Educational institutions will have to be more innovative more than they have ever been—to focus more on collaboration in solving common problems as a way of filling in the gaps both by colonial institutions and the traditional education system. Redefining the usage of technology and smartphones to fit in the picture of this new dimension for education would be a great step towards change. Institutions, parents included, will have to start infusing smartphones with education contents, and sites like Khan Academy in revamping the education system toward 21st-century contents and resources. This would be a defining moment for the future of education in Africa where universities focus on character development, skills building, empowerment, and building an ecosystem of young leaders across the continent to gather, converse and adopt resolutions for driving change and remodelling education in the context of contemporary challenges and proffering solutions in Africa. As poverty and unemployment loom most of sub-Saharan Africa, the playing field for students is not level, and students cannot be expected to move at the same pace. This is why a tracking system would be a necessity in monitoring students economic, social, and academic lives to enable institutions to help them according to needs and talents, and passion or even drive.

Economic transformation too will have to pay specific focus on grooming both the formal and informal sectors. Investing in programs that would mutate African economies from informal to formal would be a great step in this direction. But again, though there would be natural incentive that comes with this transformation, instead of putting too much focus on identifying the gaps and intricacies of the two, critical education, skills empowerment and awareness will naturally formalize informal businesses based on the empowerment and skills acquired. This will help the continent in tackling and redefining unemployment, hence poverty. Governments will have to be more transparent and accountable to their citizens by highlighting economic and social plans and make them accessible to their people. Each citizen, from those in the markets, taxi drivers, teachers to farmers, will have to be a custodian of the vision laid out in their countries through citizen support initiatives. The continuous democratisation of our institutions will have to go through the phase of citizens’ participation in policy discussions and ensure they are accountable to the public with check and balances and consensus-based decision making—not political coercion. One way of getting ordinary people would be the formation of workers unions, backed by grassroots activist movements and civil society organisations through national stakeholders’ dialogues.

In the area of technology, in spite of the avalanche of technological disruptions happening on the continent, it has a long way to go, especially now that it is urbanising and anticipating building smart cities. African governments will have to—if they must succeed—invest in innovative programs and empowering citizens to take ownership of the new trend of development. Africa already as the African Development Bank posits, “has experienced the highest urban growth in the last two decades at 3.6% per year”, and it’s urbanisation is young and attracting admiration, but it’s sadly only driven by deruralization and not industrialisation. While urbanisation on the continent should be seen as an opportunity— as it is an engine of economic development, this must be followed too, by deconcentrating political and economic activities from the cities to rural places as a form of decentralisation. Most of the African cities centralise almost everything, but rather than making Kigali, for instance, the center of admiration and activity for everything, it would make sense to open other centers in rural areas to open up economic activities to other parts of the country.

Africa has a great potential ahead, and the grand scheme of things is now conspiring for its benefit. This will restore the opportunities the continent missed out on for decades as a result of colonialism and the destabilization of its political and social institutions. What Africans, especially civil society organisations, policy makers and ordinary citizens make up of this would see a significant shift in the world order and ensure sustainable development for the mass of Africans in the coming decade.

About the Author: Ansumana Konneh studies Global Challenges (Governance) at the African Leadership University, Rwanda. He can be reached at: [email protected] or +250782556767