Bold strategy sees higher education as fulcrum for success

Can higher education help Africa develop in the same way as Asia did in the 1990s?

Asia has shown that it takes at least a few decades to build strong institutions and harvest game-changing returns.

African governments are, indeed, busy constructing higher education as a means to leverage the continent’s demographic dividend to sophisticate their economies and move up the income ladder.

Interestingly, many sector executives and governments in established regions say the same things of Africa today as their predecessors did of Asia: ‘Hard to get visas’, ‘No money’, ‘Poor infrastructure’, ‘Integrity issues’, and ‘Limited flights’.

What are the impressions, and the realities? Is the broader world still to realise Africa’s potential? Africans, themselves, think so and, just like their Asian counterparts, they are finding smart ways to leap ahead.

Africa and the case of Rwanda

What would it take for higher education across Africa to leap forward in much the same way as Asia has in recent decades?

Africa, today, has the demographics required for higher education to flourish. About 60% of the 1.55 billion people in Africa are under 25 years of age. It is the world’s fastest-growing continent with a forecast population of 2.5 billion in 2050. By the end of the century, it is projected to rival Asia as the world’s most populous region, with many of these individuals university-aged.

Africa is also huge and diverse. East Africa, alone, has around 20 countries and 530 million people. It is helpful to zoom in to examine what specific developments will spur progress.

Rwanda is a compelling test case for the above propositions. Rwanda is fertile, hilly and prosperous. It has about 14.3 million people. The population is youthful, averaging 20 years of age, with about 95% of the population aged under 64 years. There is political stability, a favourable business climate, with average GDP growth 7% to 8% annually, and active investment promotion.

Importantly, Rwanda’s government sees higher education playing a central enabling role for building a sustainable knowledge-based economy, according to its 2050 vision, and is keen to position the country as a regional hub for higher education.

Planning what is needed to succeed

Rwanda’s Higher Education Council (HEC) has recently launched a bold new strategy to transform the sector. Looking well beyond incremental change, the strategy seeks step-change reform that will solidify the sector’s foundations, strengthen innovation and advance society.

Higher education is envisioned to be socially relevant and internationally connected. It has to serve the people of Rwanda, and simultaneously prove its might to the hundreds of millions of young people within a few hours’ flight. Done well, it could grow into an internationally significant hotspot in decades to come.

To thrive, Rwanda’s higher education institutions must succeed academically by providing quality and reliable education, research and innovation. This hinges on excellent curricula, teachers and facilities, on clear and audited standards, on aligned research and on the agility to link research with firms, government and community.

All of these components are part of the strategy, which is designed as an actionable blueprint, not only for Rwanda, but for the African region.

Good ideas alone, however, are never enough – nothing will change without a substantial boost to funding and faculty capacity.

Rwanda, like other African countries, is hindered by the challenges of financing higher education. Smart financing algorithms have to expand options on an equitable basis in an environment characterised by significant informality.

Designed well, income-contingent loans will be key to equity and excellence. Much of this financing must be invested in expanding classrooms, laboratories and equipment, as well as increasing enrolment.

Resources are needed for faculty. The growth of higher education around the world in recent decades provoked insight into how faculty can be developed, imported, converted or borrowed. This challenges higher education institutions to look beyond the status quo and be intentional and pro-active in designing the future workforce.

Accelerating doctoral study is a vital part of this, and cannot be overlooked.

A clear system design is also key to ensuring orderly growth. At a minimum, such design needs to incorporate a robust institutional architecture, strong regulation and productive digitalisation. Rwanda, like Africa and Asia, needs higher education to produce graduates who can construct infrastructure, services and communities.

Making bold ideas work

Can Rwanda, and similar African countries, deliver on promises like those detailed in HEC’s new strategy?

Can higher education be grown in ways that help move the region ahead? Higher education propounds innovation but is, itself, remarkably skilled at thwarting reform. Still, several factors are moving in Rwanda’s favour.

Rwanda has sound governance, clear planning, entrepreneurial zeal and is adept at aligning partnerships. Its culture emanates restless energy and growth. There is ample pressure to move given the current domestic enrolment rate of around 10% coupled with demand from surrounding regions.

As the Asia benchmark shows, growth is lumpy, fraught with risk and hard to take for granted. Higher education’s prospects rest in the dynamics of broader international and political forces.

Transforming seemingly everything, all at once, for the first time, is both thrilling and tiring. Rwanda’s prospects at least rest on deft leadership, savvy financing approaches, infrastructure that hums and the engagement and retention of highly trained faculty.

Rwanda is just one of the education hubs emerging across the continent. Every country has universities but, practically, the concentration required to drive academic success will likely flow most easily from a handful of African hubs.

Constructing a vibrant and dynamic higher education sector is pivotal to Africa’s future.

Realising this future is not automatic or easy. Sage vision, sound governance, strong institutions and prudent management are required.

Edward Kadozi is director general of the Higher Education Commission in Rwanda. Hamish Coates is a professor of public policy affiliated with the Australian National University and Tsinghua University and the director of Higher Education Futures Lab. He designs and strengthens higher education systems, institutions and leadership.

This article was first published by University World News.