Inside Africa: The African Union Says Now Is The Time For Education, Is It Too Late?
Xinhua i Li Yahui
The 37th General Assembly of the African Union (AU) commenced with the anthem of the union echoing through its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Chairperson of the AU Commission, Former Prime Minister of Chad Moussa Faki Mahamat, delivered opening remarks that outlined how violence, inequality, and political and institutional instability, among other challenges, have stifled Africa’s peace and social progress. However, he maintained a hopeful tone throughout his speech, affirming that “hegemony and the absurd desire to resolve our differences by brutal and vain force prevail publicly before the eyes of all.”
For four days African leaders gathered to deliberate the path forward for the continent. This year’s summit theme was “Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, lifelong, quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa.” Education was one of the major agenda items for this year’s summit, alongside rising geopolitical tensions, adverse climate disasters, and financial challenges.
Currently, the AU expects its members to adopt the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016-2025 (CESA 16-25) as a regional operationalization framework for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4), “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” The primary mission of CESA is “reorienting Africa’s education and training systems to meet the knowledge, competencies, skills, innovation, and creativity required to nurture African core values and promote sustainable development at the national, sub-regional, and continental levels.” This year’s theme emphasizes the need to build quality educational infrastructures, curriculums, and skill sets for Africa’s growing young population, an issue that has been challenging for decades.
According to UNESCO, sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion, and almost 60% of youth between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school.
In Niger, which ranks at the bottom of the Human Development Index (HDI), the government allocated 3.8% of its GDP to education in 2020, according to the World Bank — despite a literacy rate of 13.6%, one of the lowest worldwide. On the other end of the spectrum, South Africa, a country with one of the highest HDI in Africa, also struggles to provide equal educational access and create strong academic institutions. The challenge of building quality education systems across Africa largely stems from the lack of domestic investment in the sector.
While this year's theme is a direct response to the failure of Sub-Saharan countries to achieve adequate progress toward SDG 4, it also serves as a strategic and imperative approach to Africa’s future development. Prioritizing quality education is a promising way for leaders across Africa to combat various economic and social challenges, such as staggering unemployment rates and economic inequality and growth. Investing in education could be the solution leaders are looking for.
Though investing in education seems like a simple solution, financial constraints and a lack of domestic investments have been the most significant impediments to its success. With the AU leadership urging renewed optimism and commitment, African leaders must decide whether building strong educational systems is a priority in which they are willing to invest. In his opening remarks, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said, “In order to grow and ensure sustainable development, education is key.”
The United Nations projects that by 2050, Africa’s population will reach close to 2.5 billion. Africa's youth population—those aged between 0 and 24—is expected to grow by nearly 50 percent, which will be the largest concentration of young people anywhere in the world. It is increasingly clear that now is the time for African leaders to invest in the human capital of young Africans, and education is a great place to start. The region’s growing youth population provides the perfect opportunity for leaders to create economic and developmental success. “From South Korea to Singapore and China, economic success has been built on the foundations of learning achievement,” says Kevin Watkins, author of a 2013 Brooking Institute education report.
Yet, the education crisis in Africa is an issue that dates back decades. The 2013 education report by the Brooking Institute extensively outlined Africa’s struggles to provide education access and adequate educational support to those enrolled in school, an issue many countries still face. Watkins says, “The ultimate aim of any education system is to equip children with the numeracy, literacy, and wider skills that they need to realize their potential – and that their countries need to generate jobs, innovation, and economic growth.” Yet, the current education system in many African countries fails to live up to these principles.
The 2024 AU media report indicates that current education sectors in Africa are making efforts towards ensuring access, completion, and quality of education “with a focus on reducing out-of-school children and improving literacy rates.” Ahead of the summit, several reports were released by the AU and its Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation Committee outlining specific strategies and steps for leaders to implement in their respective countries. However, amongst war, economic, climate, and other crises that arise, education investment is often not a priority for many governments.
Percent of GDP Spent on education Across Africa in 2021
In a News Central TV interview, David Otto, Director of the Geneva Centre for African Security & Strategic Studies, tells us the theme is a good place to start. He adds, “How and when do we start seeing results?” Over the years, the challenge has centered on the implementation and efficacy of the colonial education system, which favored Western knowledge frameworks over Africa's learning traditions. With a growing emphasis on science, technology, and entrepreneurship, the challenge for Africa is implementing a “relevant education that provides skills required in today’s market,” says David Otto.
On February 15, 2024, days before the summit, Claver Gatete, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, said “Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are now skills for the future.” She adds, “STEM occupations generate wealth and improve competitiveness and economic growth.” Rather than just providing baseline education, STEM education is a new priority in the 21st century. STEM education adds a new layer of difficulty for sub-Saharan countries, like Ghana, which struggle with teacher shortages and maintaining teachers with adequate educational levels — a trend that Ghana’s Minister for Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, denies is an issue. The lack of qualified teachers creates a repetitive cycle that can only be addressed by large-scale mobilization and investments from leaders who believe in the power of 21st-century education.
“Education is a basic human right and a key enabler for achieving our collective socio-economic development objectives. When we fail to provide accessible and inclusive education, we deny people this right,” says Claver Gatete. There is a consensus among African experts that quality education is the current solution for progress on the continent; it is the ticket to a sustainable and robust future that African leaders are searching for. The challenge is whether they believe investing and prioritizing quality education amongst other crises is worth it, a decision many leaders will have to grapple with as nearly 1 in 2 young people globally will be African by 2030.
Other major outcomes from the summit include pledges by the African Development Bank and the African Export-Import Bank to provide financing for African Union participation in the G20, which the AU became a permanent member of in September 2023. In addition, African countries made commitments to peace between various neighboring countries, establishing two AU members in the UN Security Council and appointing new leadership, including Mauritian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani as the new Chairperson of the AU.
