What you probably don’t know about higher education in sub-Saharan Africa

Jan 27, 2017 | Demography

By Anne Goujon, IIASA World Population Program

Less than 6% of the working age population has a post-secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the Wittgenstein Centre Data Explorer. However, there is a huge diversity of experiences in the region: those countries located in Southern and Western Africa have higher shares of highly educated people compared to those in Eastern and Middle Africa.

The potential for increasing education levels is tremendous as there is a huge demand for higher education, partly driven by rapid population growth. The population in the age of attending higher education—18–23 years—is forecasted to increase by 50% from its 2015 level (110 million) by 2035 (183 million), and will have doubled by 2050 to 235 million. The number of colleges and universities in the region has been burgeoning to fulfill the demand. Those are not always of very good quality, whether they are in the public sector or the private, as most are. While regulatory bodies exist to check whether all education providers meet national and international standards, they are not universal.

A 2015 graduation ceremony for the Open University of Sudan. ©Hamid Abdulsalam, UNAMID via Flickr

The expansion of higher education has led to substantial brain drain to Europe, North America, and Australia, because highly educated find better opportunities there for studying and jobs–and better salaries. Researchers have estimated that in some countries such as Eritrea, Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Somalia, and Uganda, more than a third of the national high-skilled labor force had migrated to OECD countries in 2000. While remittances that these people send home help compensate and reinforce the education in their countries of origin, they do not compensate for the departed skills and knowledge.

These facts about education in sub-Saharan Africa are well-known to education professionals and researchers in the field. But as we show in a new book Higher Education in Africa: Challenges for Development, Mobility and Cooperation, published in January 2017, there are a lot of other aspects of education in the region that are not so well-known and that could provide interesting avenues for further research.

For instance, you probably did not know that the African Union has a higher education harmonization strategy. The general idea is the same as the Bologna process in Europe:  enhance the mobility of students by making higher education systems more compatible and by strengthening the quality assurance mechanisms. One chapter by Emnet Tadesse Woldegiorgis, which looks at the process of harmonization of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa, shows that it follows in the footsteps of the Bologna process mostly because of the involvement of international donors and of the strong links between African universities and European ones.

Students in lecture room at St. Augustine University of Tanzania © Max Haller and Bernadette Mueller Kmet 2009

Many chapters of the book look at the mobility of more highly educated people between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. This is the case of a chapter by Julia Boger who interviewed graduates from Germany returning to their countries of origin: Ghana and Cameroon. The experiences of those graduates from the two West African countries are radically different: because mainly of their networks, the Ghanaian graduates face less difficulties in finding a job upon return to their country than the Cameroonians.

The last part of the book looks at some cooperation programs that are in place between the North and South (also between the South and the South). Lorenz Probst and colleagues, in their chapter, report about the challenges in implementing a transdisciplinary course in Africa within the context of the rather compartmentalized sectors of higher education in Africa.

The development of higher education could push forward change and innovation, just as much as capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa where it is direly needed.

Reference
Goujon, Anne, Max Haller, and Bernadette Müller Kmet. 2017. Higher Education in Africa: Challenges for Development, Mobility and Cooperation. Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the Nexus blog, nor of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.

The Southern African YSSP: My experience

Aug 29, 2013 | Alumni, Young Scientists

By Valentina Prado, PhD student at Arizona State University, SA-YSSP participant 2012-2013 @ValentinaASU

Valentina Prado

Enjoying the landscape around Bloemfontein.

I am a PhD student in Sustainable Engineering at Arizona State University (ASU). I was born in Cali, Colombia, and when I was in high school, my family immigrated to Canada seeking educational opportunities for me and my sister.  I did my last two years of high school in British Columbia, Canada and my undergraduate degree at Jackson State University (JSU) in Mississippi, USA (where I earned a tennis athletic scholarship).

After a degree in Civil Engineering at JSU, I decided to pursue a graduate engineering degree with an environmental sustainability focus. So, in the fall of 2010, I joined Dr. Thomas P. Seager’s research group to study decision analysis methods for environmental management problems.

The SA-YSSP program

When I found out about the Southern African Young Scientists Summer Program (SA-YSSP), it seemed too good to be true. I was immediately drawn by the project involving Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) tools because I apply these tools in my PhD thesis and I was familiar with the work from the SA-YSSP supervisors: Prof. Theodor Stewart from the University of Cape Town, Prof. Detlof von Winterfeldt from University of Southern California and Dr. Marek Makowski from IIASA. I even had one of their books on my desk when reading the call for applicants. The timing of the program was tough because of the academic schedule, but my graduate committee at ASU encouraged me to apply and worry about the logistics later. In fact, when it was time for the logistics, there was no time to worry- everything had to be quick! All of a sudden I was on my way from Phoenix to Bloemfontein, South Africa.

valentina prado and sa-yssp participants

Here’s a group picture from the SA-YSSP. I’m in yellow.

My project in the SA-YSSP evaluates environmental, social, and economic aspects of possible energy pathways in South Africa using MCDA tools—which allow us look for solutions to complex problems with many trade-offs. For this project, we focused on a period of energy transition in South Africa where natural gas is a key player. We used these tools to examine how thermo-electric power is produced in South Africa, and how different generation technologies perform economically, environmentally, and socially. For each energy pathway, we take into account environmental impacts concerning water and air quality, social impacts such as job creation and cost of production. We have already submitted our findings for publication.

In all, participating in SA YSSP was outside of anything I could have ever imagined – it was one of the most amazing and productive experiences of my life! I got to travel to a place that otherwise I would have not gone, I got to work on a really cool project with renowned people in the field, and I got to meet wonderful young scientists from all over the world.   I also learned more about the IIASA community and discovered that it is something that I will consider taking part during my doctorate or after. In addition, the people at University of the Free State took good care of us. It was 3 unbelievable months where I celebrated my birthday with friends from over 10 different countries and felt at home, learned about South Africa’s history, saw a penguin, ran a 5km race, ate bobotie, and got to pet 2-week old baby lions. All in three months. Amazing.  I feel incredibly fortunate to have participated in the SA YSSP program.

I never thought I would get to travel and meet so many wonderful people with my research. I also don’t think my parents ever considered the educational opportunities in South Africa when they immigrated to Canada! Coming from Colombia, South Africa is not a place you typically visit, or stay for three months (unless you are Shakira).  In all, I would like to thank all the sponsor organizations and staff for organizing the SA YSSP program, and allowing me the opportunity to participate.

Editor’s Note:

Applications for the 2013-2014 SA-YSSP have been extended to the 16th of September. Please visit the IIASA Web site for more information: http://www.iiasa.ac.at/web/home/education/sa-yssp/About-the-Program.en.html

Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of the Nexus blog, nor of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis.