The correlation between the level of development and quality of education in “First World” (Euro-American) countries like Germany, France, Italy, the USA, and Great Britain among others, is not a coincidence.  A research report by the World Bank suggests that the higher the quality of the educational system, the higher the quality of life. Ditto for countries like China, Russia, Japan, and North Korea among others.

The not-too-palatable situation “3rd world” countries find themselves in is a reflection of the quality of their educational systems. The interaction between the two phenomena often manifests in the low level of industrial development, which by implication, affects the quality of life, indicated by the level of socio-economic prosperity in those countries. This is the category to which most African countries belong. 

This piece is focused on the need for partnership between the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, the African Union (AU) and academia (Educational Institutions) in Africa, to foster industrial development that would ultimately lead to economic prosperity.

Taiwo C.O, in his book titled “The Nigerian Educational System,” published in 1980, defines education as “the combined effort of the community to raise its economic, social and political standard of life”. While Hegel (27 August 1770 to 14 November 1831) defines education as “the progressive perfection of humanity from simple, uncultivated, primitive state of mind through hard discipline of labour and toil, to the consciousness and exercise of freedom.” Applying this definition to the situation in each of the categories of nations listed above; one cannot disagree that the level of industrial, technological and socio-economic development has much to do with the quality of education on offer in the respective societies.

Taking a look at Africa’s colonial, and post-colonial school curriculum, one would observe that inherited Western colonial education in Africa is limited both in scope and content, to the needs of the former colonial masters. The African educational curriculum was defined by what was referred to as the three “Rs” – “Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.” With these three basic skills, an African man became employable in trading companies, as an administrative officer, or as an exegete (catechist) in places of worship. Science and technology-related courses were not part of the curriculum in the pre-independence epoch. That partly accounts for the reasons why Africa is lagging far behind in technological advancement, there has been no human capital investment in that regard.

                                                                     Students in a classroom during the colonial era in Rhodesia. Source: The Patriot

It’s been about six decades since the majority of African countries attained independence. Yet, very few of them have taken steps to ensure that the curriculum inherited from the colonial masters is redefined in scope and contents to suit the developmental needs of the continent. The few high-level manpower that Africa manages to produce are, daily, being lost through brain drain. Emmanuel Otori, the Chief Executive Officer [CEO] of “Abuja Data School”, Nigeria, in an interview, tells SciDev.Net that, as soon as many of these talents gather enough skills, they migrate out of the region, in search of the proverbial greener pasture. UNESCO also corroborates this, when it asserts that the brain drain is more acute in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Meanwhile, most of the courses on offer in tertiary institutions in some African countries are not industrial needs-based. The mindset of some Africans, irrespective of their courses of study, envisions a post-school life where, instead of working in fields relevant to their disciplines, they would be in an office, sifting through troves of bulky files. That is a factor which does not help matters. Not even being an engineer by training can prevent them from thinking along this line – wanting to be nestled in an air-conditioned office. Recently, at the AU summit on industrialisation and economic diversification, held in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic, Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari said Africa must rejig her educational system to promote industrialization, as reported by a Nigerian online news medium “TheCable.”

To buttress the point being made by the Nigerian President; take a look at South Africa for instance; one of the most glamorous exports from the “Rainbow Nation” is a Pay TV (DSTV) service, owned by MultiChoice, guess what? It is a product of academic research from one of the universities in the country that has enhanced Africa’s self-reliance, to a large extent, in the area of satellite television service, this is in addition to earning forex for South Africa.

If Africa is to achieve the aims and objectives of Agenda 2063 within the framework of the AfCFTA, by way of aggressive industrialisation of the continent, there is a need for the AU to establish a robust partnership between the AU’s Economic, Social & Cultural Council, and educational institutions in Africa to focus more on developing the necessary manpower for the various industries. That is, the production of high-level manpower should be labour market-focused.

Education facilitates economic development. As Esther Ejim wrote in the recently published article, “Education is a human capital investment, which is expected to yield results that will translate to the improvement and growth of the economy of a nation.” It is therefore incumbent on the masterminds of AfCFTA, to forge a partnership with educational institutions across Africa, to produce the needed manpower who have the business acumen, technical know-how, and entrepreneurial zeal to drive the vision of AfCFTA.

Adebayo Abubakar is a Nigerian journalist. You can reach him via email, marxbayour@gmail.com