African Development Bank Group Annual Meetings 2024 – African Nations Urged to Increase Private Sector Financing of Higher Education

Experts attending the African Development Bank of Kenya’s high-level dialogue have called on African nations to step up efforts to attract private sector financing to improve higher education and equip the continent’s youth with competitive skills.

During a panel discussion at the Bank’s 2024 annual meetings in Nairobi, experts highlighted the importance of political commitment in ensuring the return on private sector investment in education.

Former Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, chairwoman of the board of the Global Partnership for Education, has called for a renewed commitment to increasing national education spending to tap Africa’s demographic potential as the world’s largest future workforce.

“To build stronger higher education capacity, we need to build a solid foundation in early childhood education, primary and secondary education to ensure a talent pool of trained young people for lifelong learning that will enable them to thrive,” Kikwete said.

The bank organized the event titled “Policy Dialogue on Innovative Financing for Higher Education in Africa: Reviving the Role of the Private Sector” in partnership with the Government of Kenya, the African Union Commission and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. Strategies and best practices to stimulate private sector financing of higher education were explored.

During the session, the African Development Bank signed a joint declaration of intent with GIZ to increase joint commitments to skills development to improve the employability of young people in Africa. Cooperation under the Build4Skills initiative will enable young trainees to undergo on-the-job training as part of infrastructure projects supported by the Bank in the agriculture, water management or transport sectors for a period of 6 to 12 months. Build4Skills is in line with the Bank’s Employability and Productivity Skills Action Plan for Africa 2021-2025, which aims to support a skilled and productive workforce.

Birgit Pickel, Director General for Africa at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), said: “This is the first Declaration of Intent between the two organizations in the field of education and we are very pleased with this cooperation. This is a sign of our intention to increase our collective commitment to vocational training and skills development in African countries, and this is more urgent than ever.”

The African Development Bank has been actively engaged in education and skills development since 1975, committing significant resources to strengthening science, technology, engineering and mathematics infrastructure at higher education levels and improving the sectoral policy environment.

Dr. Beth Dunford, the bank’s vice president for agriculture, community and community development, said the institution has committed $964 million to higher education and skills development over the past decade.

“The focus is on strengthening technical and vocational education and training (TVET) infrastructure and catalysing private sector investment in skills development and job creation,” Dunford stressed.

She highlighted the Bank’s $80 million support for the Ekiti State Special Economic Zone project in Nigeria and the $23 million investment in the Rwanda Aviation Skills Center of Excellence as some of the projects that will help boost the economy and create jobs.

Prof. Mohamed Belhocine, African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, said increased investment in higher education requires action at national, continental and global levels. He noted that between 2017 and 2019, only seven African countries achieved the required 6%. GDP expenditure on education, with an average of approximately 4%. GDP.

Dr James Mwangi, Group CEO of Equity Holdings, shared how collaboration with higher education institutions is driving human resource development across the continent. For example, he said, Equity Group, in partnership with the Kenyan government, has provided scholarships to at least 23,000 students.

More than 10,000 participants registered for the African Development Bank’s 2024 hybrid annual meetings, with approximately 5,000 delegates physically participating. Several heads of state are expected to participate in the presidential dialogue on Wednesday.