Experts Urge More Private Financing for African Tertiary Education
The bank has committed $964 million to tertiary education and skills over the past decade, said Vice President Beth Dunford, citing projects in Nigeria and Rwanda.
NAIROBI, Kenya— Experts attending an African Development Bank dialogue in Kenya urged African nations on Wednesday to intensify efforts to attract private sector financing to enhance tertiary education and equip the continent's youth with competitive skills, writes Winston Mwale.
During a panel discussion at the bank's annual meetings in Nairobi, the experts stressed the importance of political commitment to guarantee returns on private investments in education.
Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, board chair of the Global Partnership for Education, called for increased national education spending to harness Africa's future demographic advantage as the world's largest labor force.
"To build a stronger tertiary education pipeline, we need to build strong foundations with early learning, primary and secondary education to provide a talent pool of trained young people for lifelong learning," Kikwete said.
The event explored strategies to stimulate private financing for higher education. The African Development Bank signed an agreement with GIZ to scale up skills development initiatives like Build4Skills, which provides workplace training for youth on infrastructure projects.
Birgit Pickel, a German ministry official, welcomed the "sign of intent to scale up joint commitment to vocational training and skills development in African countries."
The bank has committed $964 million to tertiary education and skills over the past decade, said Vice President Beth Dunford, citing projects in Nigeria and Rwanda.
African Union Commissioner Mohamed Belhocine said increased investment requires national, continental and global action, noting only seven African countries met the 6% of GDP education expenditure target between 2017-2019.
Over 10,000 people registered for the bank's hybrid annual meetings this year.