By Olakunle Agboola – Africa is a continent with remarkable economic potential yet the least developed largely to its inadequate human capital to transform this potential into social and economic development.
One of the most powerful instruments that can be used for reducing any sort of inequality, reducing poverty, and laying a foundation for a sustained economy is education, and the lack of it is the major reason why Africa has not been able to maximize its full potential.
Education in its embracing contexts is far beyond going to school to get a degree but a totality of investment in human capital, which correlates to the development of human resources.
The political gladiators in Africa must have this at the back of their minds there won’t be a formidable future for Africans if a free vibrant educational system is not well sponsored to maximize the potential of Africa. Therefore, the future of Africa lies in its human capital and that can be well harnessed through a vibrant educational system.
The Challenges
The main challenge facing governments of African countries is how to build human capital through sustained investment in education and training to produce a highly qualified and trained workforce that can compete effectively in the global knowledge economy.
The effort of countries in Africa to develop their human capital base through education and training to boost growth and facilitate economic transformation is often constrained by limited budgetary resources.
In addition, the lack of political wills on the part of policymakers and the difficulty in retaining those trained with limited resources are often cited as other major human capital development challenges.
Africa has long suffered significant losses through “brain drain” from the uncontrollable flight of scarce human capital whose contribution is best needed for domestic economic development.
Related to the issue of brain drain are the numerous political and civil conflicts experienced by many African countries, which have caused the displacement of many productive African workforces.
Several productive Africans from Rwanda, Burundi, Congo DR, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Somalia, and Cote d’Ivoire among others are yet to return to their home countries after political and ethnic conflicts forced them out of their country.
Most African migration is intra-continental and about half of the African migrants are either refugees or displaced persons. It is worth noting that the outbreak of conflicts does not only cause a displacement of educated and productive professionals but also affects the education of those still in schools.
The scarcity of intentional leaders has plagued Africa to maximize its potential. How could a leader who lacks vision and purpose be allowed within the political space not to talk of many African leaders who could not present their Secondary School Certificate?
It will be difficult for unschooled leaders to understand that the development of human capital is directly proportional to the development of human resources.
The world is changing, and Africa can’t continue to suffer from those leaders who can’t spell their names correctly and not to talk of those who cannot lead a nation. A nation is progressive or retrogressive with the kind of leader that is allowed to take a lead.
The Way Forward
After training highly skilled labor, the obvious challenge of retaining them in the country needs to be addressed. The issue of brain drain could be successfully addressed by drawing useful experiences from South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
These nations established incentive schemes and mechanisms within a pleasant socio-economic framework that helped to attract back home quite a lot of their own highly trained expatriate people from the various industrialized countries.
The return of these highly skilled professionals helped to fuel the revival of agriculture, commerce, higher education, and hi-tech research within these nations and to transform them into so-called newly industrialized countries.
For Africa to retain its human capital or reverse its brain drain, then it must make efforts to provide a conducive environment for its knowledgeable workers and make available to them the requisite resources to enable them to do their work effectively.
African governments must show commitment to creating and creating a peaceful and stable socio-political and economic environment through good governance that upholds the rule of law and is devoid of corruption.
Measures to improve the employability of educational and training outcomes are critical for the realization of a highly skilled human capital base in Africa.
African governments may be required to play a greater role in upgrading the education and skill creation system through close consultation and collaboration between training institutions and industry in the development of curricula, training methods, enrolment, and selection of trainees to increase the relevance of public training in meeting industries’ needs.
Effective leadership won’t be undermined but is also a necessity for Africa to quickly grow and become what it ought to be.
It is not very difficult for Africa to become an enviable continent but that will be a huge focus on human capital which is nothing more than creating an enabling environment for citizens to maximize their potential through a progressive educational system.
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