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There are a few things you can be sure of for Africa in 2017. The perennial debate about whether Africa is rising or not will roll on. This will be especially true for sub-Saharan Africa, where economic growth slowed last year to 1.5%—the lowest rate in 20 years. There’ll also be plenty of discussions about how to move away from a dependence on commodity exports as prices remain well below their 2014 peaks.
Education will play a vital role in developing Africa’s teeming youth talent to contribute to help these economies diversify. The challenge, as we show in our chart of the week below, is the continent’s population is growing much faster than countries can develop the institutions needed to educate young people.
A closer look at the trends shows most of the larger countries have long opened up to allow private organizations set up institutions of higher learning alongside the cash-strapped and over-subscribed public universities you find in some of the countries. The result is private universities are the fastest growing sector, but there’s still a long way to get.
Of course, just having more private universities isn’t the answer. There are serious questions about quality of education both public and private schools. As it is, only 15 of Africa’s universities were among the top 800 universities in the world last year.
But the challenge may be even more acute than global rankings. It’s not clear Africa’s universities are training young people to meet the challenges of a 21st century Africa. As Harvard’s Calestous Juma has pointed out many of the long established African universities were set up to train government functionaries and civil servants. Juma thinks they need to be reinvented as centers of innovation to help meet many of the unique challenges on the continent.
Privately run institutions can be an important way to expand the base of higher education in most countries. But government regulators can still play a part in guiding them to ensure young people reinvent the future rather than repeat mistakes of the past.
Yinka Adegoke, Quartz Africa editor
Stories from this week
How Nigeria gets back on track. Africa’s largest economy was hit by a recession and dwindling oil revenues in 2016. To get out of the recession and avoid another shock, analysts tell Yomi Kazeem the government needs to be brave enough to make politically risky reforms.
Liberia is not privatizing public schools. In an op-ed written for Quartz Africa, Liberia’s education minister George K. Werner makes the case for his country’s controversial partnership with local and international private school firms like Bridge International and Rising Academies. He points out less than 60% of school-aged children in Liberia are in school, “now is not the time to be ideological.”
The African elections to watch out for in 2017. After a mixed 2016 of very good, bad and ugly elections, Africa analysts will be hopeful as millions of voters across the continent line up to vote in presidential and legislative elections this year. While a few elections feel like they will have predictable outcomes, all will be worth watching closely.
Fighting malaria with a GM strategy. In 2015, 90% of the malaria deaths in the world took place in Africa. But a new vaccine, using genetically modified malaria parasites, is showing a lot of promise with few significant side effects—furthering hope for saving thousands of lives.
A guide to getting round internet and social media shutdowns. At least 11 African governments shut down the internet in 2016, and that threat still looms large in 2017. We’ve compiled several ways you can avoid internet censorship and blackouts, and browse anonymously. You’re welcome.
The African economies to watch this year. The effects of the post-Brexit era and the imminent inward-looking Trump administration will likely make 2017 an economically tumultuous year after a tough 2016. But for Africa, a move towards economic diversification and industrialization will help boost growth, writes Lynsey Chutel.
CHART OF THE WEEK
Africa has too few universities for its fast growing population. The oldest university in the world, Al Qarawiyyin, is located in Africa—specifically in Fez, Morocco. Yet, the recent legacy of tertiary education in Africa is hardly stellar, writes Abdi Latif Dahir. Universities on the continent face challenges related to low supply, over demand and poor quality of the education systems.
Other Things We Liked
Women have to fight for a seat at the table of electoral politics. Intimidation and physical violence face women across the world whenever they stand for elections. By comparing parliamentary quota systems in East Africa, Nanjala Nyabola writes about how with the right institutional support we can achieve gender parity for women in politics.
The African in New York who helped topple a dictatorship. Souleymane Guengueng lives in a public housing complex in the Bronx borough of New York. But his current life isn’t representative of how his advocacy and hard work brought down the brutal dictatorship of Chad’s former president, Hissène Habré, writes New York Times’ Dionne Searcey
Keep an eye on
Gambia’s Supreme Court to hear Jammeh’s appeal on election. (Jan. 10). After refusing to accept the results of the elections he conceded, president Yahya Jammeh’s party filed a challenge on Dec. 13 to the election results in the Supreme Court. That appeal will be heard by the court on Jan. 10.
Brookings Institution Foresight Africa (Jan. 12). The Africa Growth Initiatives at the Brookings will hold its annual Foresight Africa event to explore overarching economic and development trends shaping the continent.
Our best wishes for a relaxing weekend and pleasant holiday period with family and friends. Please send any news, comments, GM malaria vaccines and your best internet shutdown hacks, to africa@qz.com. You can follow us on twitter at @qzafrica for updates throughout the day.
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