10 Education Development Quotes From The Nigerian Education Summit

The Education Partnership Centre (TEP Centre) in partnership with Development Diaries, MacArthur Foundation and Every Nigerian Child Project, on Monday,  hosted the first Nigerian Education Summit (NES) at Protea Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The Nigerian Education Summit (NES) is an event that will be an annual convening of all those working to improve Nigeria’s education system, and for Nigerians to take stock and reflect on how far they have come in their goal to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to good quality education.

The summit had in attendance key stakeholders in the Nigerian education sector, including the Director, Centre for Learning Assessments International, Dr Sara Ruto who came all the way from Kenya to share her knowledge on conducting citizen-led assessment that will improve education quality through accountability.

Below are 10 quotes from the Nigerian Education Summit on ways to usher in the desired development in the Nigerian education sector.

1.       ‘The fastest way to grow social inequality is to refuse giving to others what education has given to you’ — Dr Oby Ezekwezili

2.       ‘The change we seek may require us to think differently about the purpose of education and how the burden of responsibility for educating Nigerian people at all levels, is shared and what form this takes.’ — Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr Foluso Phillips

3.       Folusho Phillips.

4.       ‘Women and men in business can and ought to play a key role walking alongside and supporting those at the forefront of delivering the change we seek in Nigeria’s education sector.’ – Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Mr Foluso Phillips.

5.       ‘We have to be accountable to each child in order to help develop the quality of education.’ - Director, Centre for Learning Assessments International, Dr Sara Ruto.

6.       ‘Education, at the end of the day is a Public-Private responsibility.’ — Managing Director of The Education Partnership Centre (TEP Centre), Dr Modupe Adefeso-Olateju

7.       ‘The best way to look at accountability in the education sector is not to generalise but to take individual ownership.’ — Senior Economic Advisor, Open Society Institute, Dr Oby Ezekwezili.

8.        ‘Citizens must hold politicians accountable on issues of education.’ - Director, Centre for Learning Assessments International, Dr Sara Ruto.

9.       ‘There is power in collectively. We need movements to improve the quality of education in Nigeria and indeed Africa.’ -  Director, Centre for Learning Assessments International, Dr Sara Ruto.

10.   ‘Education is the fundamental role of the government yet everyone has a plug-in role.’ - Managing Director of The Education Partnership Centre (TEP Centre), Dr Modupe Adefeso Olateju.

PwC Launches ‘Into Africa – The Continent’s Cities Of Opportunity’ Report To Highlight The Potential Of The Continent.

Stanley Subramoney, PwC Head of Strategy for Southern Africa.

Image Credit: APO

Today at the African CEO Forum of 2015 in Geneva, PwC  launches the first edition of its ‘Into Africa – the continent’s cities of opportunity’ report, which details the potential of 20 African cities that we believe to be among the most dynamic and future focused on the continent. The report is part of PwC’s global Cities of Opportunity series and its analysis is structured around the critical issues of the business community as well as those of the office holders and other public authorities who are responsible for improving the collective life of each city examined here.

The African continent is crossed by five trends: demographic change, urbanisation, technological changes, the transfer of economic power and climate change. Urbanisation is of particular importance, as by 2030, half of Africa’s population will live in cities where economic activity and growth will be focused and which will become communication centers and hubs for social trends. The global megatrends are colliding across Africa. The growing middle class, strong demographic growth with an improving age mix, technological innovation that we have already seen in mobile payments and a growing choice of investment partners from the global south, as well as fast-paced urbanisation are all shaping what the future of Africa will look like.

 Stanley Subramoney, PwC Head of Strategy for Southern Africa, says: “We have sought to answer ‘what makes an African city one of opportunity’ by developing a set of questions that investors should ask themselves and themes which city politicians and officials can work on to improve their competitiveness. This report assesses how the cities are performing not only on a regional level but also on an international one, which is hugely important in terms of these cities being able to compete and prosper on both of these stages.”

 PwC studied four indicators: the economy, infrastructure, human capital and population/society (which itself contains 29 variables). From this analysis, two rankings emerged: ‘general’ and ‘opportunities for cities’. “We believe that these cities demonstrate the relative strengths and weaknesses of Africa’s urban future. Our evaluation and re-evaluation of that future is, of course, a continual work in progress,” adds Kalane Rampai, PwC Leader for Local Government for Southern Africa.

North African cities lead the way

 Four of the top five cities in the report are located in North Africa: Cairo, Tunis, Algiers and Casablanca, with the fifth being Johannesburg.

The preponderance of North African cities at the top is mainly due to how long they have been established. This has given them time to develop infrastructure and a regulatory and legal framework, and to establish a socio-cultural ecosystem. Johannesburg is the only exception to this pattern since it was only formed more recently, in 1886 (compared to the other cities it’s ranked highly with), and was developed rapidly for political reasons. Therefore, its infrastructure and services are comparable to those of the more established African cities.

African cities with promise

 Another major criterion of a city’s potential is the vision they have for their future. Accra, the capital of Ghana, is a good example of a city that has a good reputation throughout Africa and beyond for the quality of its communications infrastructure, low crime rates and steady democracy. Economically, it ranks second for both its attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment and the diversity of its GDP.

Most of the African cities with promise can (and will), with a little effort and organisation, climb to join those cities at the top of our overall ranking. Moreover, many of them have already become key regional platforms, such as Dar es Salaam and Douala as centres for telecommunications, Accra and Lagos for culture, and Nairobi for financial services.

 Outside our top five cities, Kigali finishes at the very top for both ease of doing business and health spending; Abidjan ranks number one in both middle-class growth and diversity; Dar es Salaam is first in GDP growth; and Nairobi outscores all African cities in FDI.

 With 5% growth, dynamic demographics and a growing middle class, Africa is extremely appealing to investors. After undergoing a period of pessimism about the future of Africa with some exaggerated optimism, leaders today share a more realistic view of the economic climate of the continent. This is what PwC calls ‘Afro-realism’.

 The trends identified in the report, with the generally accepted economic data supporting the notion that cities are the world’s ‘engines of growth’, make ‘Into Africa – the continent’s cities of opportunity’ report not only necessary but extremely timely.

To download the full report, click here  

About PwC:

PwC helps organisations and individuals create the value they’re looking for. We’re a network of firms in 157 countries with more than 195,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, tax and advisory services.

2015: A Year Of More Pressure On African Governments To Have Stronger Enforcement Of Anti-Bribery And Corruption Regulation

"The way that things have always been done” is changing in many African countries

57.6 percent of companies see the development of policies and procedures that can be practically applied in all countries as the most challenging internal anti-corruption and compliance issue.

This is one of the topics discussed today at a webcast with Uche Orji, CEO and Managing Director, Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), hosted by Control Risks’ CEO Richard Fenning 

•          While FCPA and UKBA still lead anti-bribery and corruption regulation, in a number of African countries the governments feel increasing pressure to join the current trend of stronger enforcement of anti-bribery and corruption regulation in developing countries

•          An integrated, global approach to mitigate corruption risk is important, but local adjustment is key

•          “The way that things have always been done” is changing in many African countries and often management determination and the acceptance of “wasted” time and higher costs can avoid the need for bribes to secure business.

•          Only 66% of internationally operating companies have policies in place that forbid facilitation payments

Tom Griffin, Managing Director West Africa, Control Risks, comments on the discussion:

“Often companies try to roll-out a global anti-bribery and corruption programme from Western headquarters and are then surprised that it is not effectively implemented in other markets – this is not unique to African countries. Companies need to adapt the policies and initiatives to the local culture, for example the type of training for employees. Some of our clients with their headquarters in Africa are more effective in their fight against bribery and corruption than those headquartered elsewhere, as they have an anti-bribery and corruption programme very focussed on the specific issues of their market.”

“Knowing the local market and the country you are operating in is key to implementing a successful anti-bribery and corruption programme.”

 “Control Risks sees a change in ‘how things have always been done’ in many African countries. The fight against corruption is higher on the political agenda than ever before and when we discuss the corruption problems in operating in these countries, we need to acknowledge this.

For more information and to receive the recording of the webcast, please click here:http://goo.gl/IZjnLF

Pat Utomi: Media, Politics And Nation Building

*The following is an excerpt of the lecture delivered by Pat Utomi, a Nigerian professor of political economy and management expert, in commemoration of Anambra Broadcasting Service.

Mr. Chairman
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen

I am honored and quite pleased to be asked to give the lecture marking the establishment of Anambra Broadcasting Service.
I am quite sure why Uche Nworah and his team targeted me for this role. I wonder if it is because I am an in-law, having been gifted with a very dear wife from Anambra, or because I was, as they say, the first non-Anambra person by birth to become a ‘member’ indeed a ‘founding member’ of the League of Anambra Professionals.

One rumor about why I was invited is that Anambra is attempting continuous extracting of bride price. I must admit it is a demand I am pleased to meet given that the wife Anambra people were gracious to allow me take has been a great blessing. If after 30years of marriage, you look 30years old, and lift the spirit like a bunch of 300 roses, paying additional bride price should be welcome. But further rumors suggest it may be related to my multidisciplinary back-ground that include a mass communication degree and discipline implicated in Nigeria’s current troubles, policy Economics, Political Science and Business Administration.

I do hope that whatever the reason, those antecedents bring some value to the conversation. Surely one thing that background brings, from the fact that my very first publication in an international academic journal of some prestige, the Dutch Journal, Gazette, in 1981, was titled “Historical-Philosophical Foundation of Government Ownership of Newspapers in Nigeria is familiarity with the turf”.
No one doubts that ownership is a critical part of the role media has played in the evolution of media impact on politics and Nation building.

I have chosen, in reflecting on the times, to speak to the role of the media in Nation Building and the effect of how it reports politics with consequence for nation-building.

It is fortuitous that as I was about to start putting down my thought on this subject, Dr. Tom Adaba, pioneer Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission published a scathing critique of how the media has handled the uncivil campaigning that has marked the 2015 elections campaigns: He was evidently quite upset that the media betrayed lack of social responsibility and poor gate keeping. The lambast came as the postponement of the elections were announced, simultaneously triggering higher levels of tension and capping the pressure in a great paradox of Nigeria on the brink.

For me even though the damage is significantly done, effort can be made to reduce the extent of damage. The amount of hate messaging in the air is enough to poison ethnic, regional and faith relations in a way that will make living together and governing difficult for generations. Why politicians who claim to lead, do such damage, puzzles me. But how media do not know some of these politicians are either too ignorant to truly realize the damage they are doing or too desperate to know better, should bend themselves to be so used calls for indictment even more damning than Tom Adaba’s trashing critic.
I wish again to point to Rwanda and the call on Radio to cut down the tall tree in the expectation that leadership would better appreciate the impact of hate speech. It is frightening therefore that incumbents seem to have done more to stoke divisive politics that can stoke hate that lasts generations and that the NBC could not act because incumbents were deeply involved. If opposition acts foolishly, incumbents should know better because the real burden of leading imposed certain responsibility, which is why incumbent US Presidents, besides the self-interest of ‘acting Presidential’ tend to deploy the so called Rose Garden Strategy.

The media has additional accountability as the fourth estate of the realm, that may surpass that of a wayfarer who stumbles into public office as a result of rigging. Besides, serious journalists are typically better informed than politicians and it should be easier for them to tell the people what similar conduct as we are currently having did to Kenya. It has taken Kenya a good six years to begin to recover from that election. Is anybody’s personal claim to power worth that much damage to the soul of a nation?
Could the media have prevented us from getting to this edge. That surely depends on what you think of media influence, what it takes to build a harmonious and prosperous nation, and how the media is oriented to playing its role in Nation Building. So how does the media exert influence?

MEDIA INFLUENCE

Understanding how media influences society is an enterprise that is generations’ old, beginning largely around elections behavior surveys early in the 20th century. Back then ideas around media influence suggested a powerful media that literally determined society’s orientation. The underpinning theory, the hypodermic Needle thesis, hypothesized that like injection delivered medicine to a receptive blood system, the media administered reality to audience. But this thesis was shown the ‘lie’ card when powerful newspapers like the New York Times would endorse candidates who went on to lose the elections.

The media influence Paradigm of that moment yielded ground, in the face of evidence, to a new one which saw media influence from the perspective of opinion leaders mediating media influence, the so called two step flow of communication. This paradigm which asserted the superior place of Opinion leaders produced the hypothesis of two step flow of communication and then the multiple step mediation from media to social action. This view of media influence would increasingly give way to views that suggest media influence came from its Agenda setting function.

Since so much happens in the world, and only a few of these occurrences enter our consciousness, and a fewer still dominate our consideration, the gate keeping function of the media allow it to set the agenda. In the sense, therefore that the media help us, or decide for us what is important, media has great influence.

So if media has influence, what suggests the direction in which they deploy this influence regarding politics and nation building. As many have found economics of media survival, the nature of ownership of media, and the organizational challenges of the media enterprise including the human capital element are critical for media influence. Also valuable thesis in the evolution of media theory from which our media like Anambra Broadcasting has an accounting is the status conferral function of the media, the thesis suggests, confer status. People seen in media get a bit of hallo. The prestige, best noted in the fact of the public assuming newscasters on TV to be well-of celebrities being shocked to see them in those days when they could be level 9 civil servants scratching out an existence, means that those seen in media quickly became role models. So if the media feature crooks, celebrate corrupt people or promote 419 people, the failure of the gatekeeping function there makes such people role models. The current collapse of culture in the country, especially noted in some of the values in today’s southeast can be significantly traced to media access to people who should not make it into media for their ways without editorial commentary on what they represent. That failure of the media has affected what the young value. Part of it is heard in the clichéd saying that the gorgeousness of the man flows from his pocket (nma nwoke di na akpa ya).

For us to fully appreciate the direction of media choice and how these affect the direction of human progress in Nigeria, it should be profitable to interrogate a framework for understanding economic growth which was first offered in my 2006 book, Why Nations Are Poor. The Growth Drivers Framework crystallized from a desire to develop a more holistic framework for understanding why some countries thrive and others incline towards misery.

The growth driver’s framework was the core tool of my 2006 book, Why Nations are Poor. It grew out of two challenges. In 1998 I had published a book; Managing Uncertainty: Competition and Strategy in Emerging Economies, which essentially looked at how competitive strategies of firms were shaped by uncertainty in the environment and how institutions reduce uncertainty. Its focus was mainly on the micro levels response to choices at the macro terrain. In 2006 I sought to show how factors shape that macro arena that firms respond to.

The second influencing source was trying to better explain the frustration African leaders face in following prescriptions by multilaterals. I had gone to the Southern African summit of the World Economic Forum as contribution to the Africa Competitiveness Report. The team, led by Jeffrey Sachs wanted to make the leaders sensitive to factors affecting the Competitiveness of their Economies. One of the questions asked by one of the Southern African leaders showed me clearly how important it was to move away from analysis of change for progress that was unicausal.

The outcome was a framework of interdependent sets of variables that I thought resulted in sustainable human progress.

These are policy choices, institutions, human capital, Entrepreneurship, culture and leadership. I doubt that progress is possible where we fail on most of these counts, but quite central is culture, because values shape human progress, as Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s Two Truths’ emphasize and the Harvard colloquium on it, illustrates. The pervasive impact of culture and institutions on progress are ultimately affected by how leaders set the tone of culture. Leadership failure, compounded by the problem of citizenship can be very easily seen as the reason the promise of Nigeria has dropped to the level of paradise deferred. Until people in power recognize that leadership is other – centered behavior and think less of self, beyond a place in history, we may continue to be challenged. Stephen R Covey does well to remind us of two dimensions that must be present for effectiveness in leadership, knowledge and a sense of service. If you look in Nigeria you generally find both knowledge and a sense of service severely in short supply in the class of typical power welders in Nigeria. Poor performance is therefore understandable. This is actually compounded by a progressively anti – intellectual disposition of the political actors.

Media and Nation Building

The Growth Drivers framework shows us that in advancing the quality of policy choice, moderating contending voices in a manner that result in boundaries that become institutions, the media advance the possibilities of progress because institutions, as Hernando De Soto persuasively argues in the mystery of capital, advance the material possibilities for man.

But where the narrative is one of impunity, as has been that of our recent history, our institution atrophy, and society’s progress remains putative, just potential.

Indeed the framework suggests to us the importance of human capital for growth and development yet if you look at how the media sets the agenda, Nigeria politics is decidedly anti-intellectual, often the extant narrative points Nigeria in a direction of uncompetitiveness.

With Entrepreneurship, you can see an increasing understanding of its importance. Yet the kinds of institutional frameworks that Rhagiram Rajan and Luigi Zingales promote in the book, Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists, have not received concerted push from the media.

The big Gorilla in the room here is culture. Values shape human progress. But we have witnessed a collapse of culture in Nigeria. The dominant ethos are of an entitlement mentality and instant gratification.

Also rife in the culture is corruption and abuse of position of authority for vendetta, ethnic and nepotistic motives and cronyism. All of these shoot progress in the foot. While media remains vibrant in Nigeria it has not systematically campaigned to end such elements of the collapse of culture.
In my experience the media is handicapped in this regard by low levels of professionalism, poor economics of its business model and the nature of its ownership.

The matter of professionalism, affected by the training of journalists, the ethics of practice and quality of the people that enter the profession as well as their sense of self worth and mission. The street wisdom, with all the talk of Brown envelopes, exaggerated as they may sometimes be, indicate low levels of professionalism.

Equally challenging is the economics of media. Many newspapers and Television stations run on models that do not allow for enough income for the right levels of investment to get the job done well. Late salaries, and limitation in resourcing tools of the trade, invariably result in poor performance. I tell the story of how a major American newspaper was following up on the Halliburton scandal in Nigeria and a reporter told me he was given a budget of $100,000.00 to nail Dick Cheney, the then Vice-President. I can only imagine of who could receive such a budget to close a story here.

This is part of the reason, besides tradition, from colonial times that we have governments owning media to ostensibly disseminate development information.

Ownership also interfaces with media orientation and content. In the country of the big man this is an even more troubling factor.

CONCLUSION

The foregoing helps our reflection on how media affects development. We are convinced that a media that plays its role right will be a driver of progress by helping build strong institutions.

RISKMAP 2015: Political Uncertainty And Low Oil Price Pose Risks To Nigeria’s Success Story

Control Risks , the global business risk consultancy, today publishes its annual RiskMap report, an established authoritative guide and key reference point for policymakers and business leaders seeking to plot global trends over the coming year. RiskMap highlights the most significant underlying trends in global risk and security, and provides a detailed view from the markets that will matter most in 2015. 

•          Diversification of the economy remains crucial to improve the sustainability of West Africa’s economic growth 

•          Heightened political turbulence following the postponement of the presidential poll to March threatens to dent investor confidence

•          Deepening political divisions between Nigeria’s regions over the presidential poll and the absence of a clear front-runner increase the risk of a contested outcome and a turbulent aftermath

 •          The drop in oil revenue will test Nigeria’s economy over the next year and will show the extent to which the fast-growing non-oil sectors have become truly independent from the oil economy

 •          The incoming administration in May will have to address a cash-flow crisis, the threat from Islamist militant group Boko Haram while maintaining stability in the oil-producing Niger delta and stemming social unrest

Introducing RiskMap 2015, Tom Griffin, Managing Director West Africa, Control Risks, said:

“2015 so far has demonstrated the political constraints to Africa’s economic growth story. Across Africa, governments have faced difficulties in tackling key issues such as the excessive reliance on commodities such as oil, bottlenecks in the economy, security challenges from criminal and militant groups and the need to improve governance. In many places, private-sector growth frequently occurs despite government rather than because of it.”

“The postponement of Nigeria’s elections has unnerved some investors and made others delay their final investment decisions. The economic impact of that has been shown by the drop in the naira. The genuinely competitive elections are a critical juncture on Nigeria’s path towards becoming a mature democracy, but closely contested polls are uncharted territory for the country’s political system. Nonetheless, Nigeria has an impressive capacity for weathering impending crises and we believe that the upcoming elections will be no different.”

“Regardless of the outcome of the polls, the incoming administration will have to contend with multiple challenges: resurrecting the oil sector reform agenda, managing a likely cash-flow crisis in government, dealing with the threat from Islamist militant group Boko Haram and maintaining stability in the restive Niger delta.”

“West Africa will remain a piracy hotspot in 2015, led by Nigeria, where maritime operators are bracing for the fallout from the contested general elections. Much will also depend on how the future administration manages the Niger delta’s former rebels.”

“The terrorist threat will continue to evolve tactically and geographically given the adaptability of Islamist militant groups operating in West Africa. Islamist militant group Boko Haram will grab further headlines in 2015, but faces limitations outside its north-eastern heartland and has come under pressure from the Nigerian government and regional military offensive. This however increases the risk that the group will lash out outside its northeastern heartland. Meanwhile, transnational terrorists operating across the Sahel-Sahara will continue to exploit the region’s ungoverned spaces but will struggle to make inroads further south and will remain a limited direct threat in Nigeria.”

For more information on RiskMap and to download the map and report please click here: https://riskmap.controlrisks.com.

#AHES2015: Welcome Address For the African Higher Education Summit

 By Aicha Bah Diallo

Welcome:

National Presidents; Ministers and dignitaries here present; heads of delegations; our donor partners, vice chancellors, academics, students, members of the media; those present here today and indeed our global audience through the use of information technology:

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen institutional partners and the sectors represented here, for responding in numbers, to our invitation to be present and part of our vision for inclusive socio-economic development for Africa through the transformation of higher education.

I would like to thank our summit partners for the vision that we have shared that has culminated in the creation of a continental platform for us to deliberate on the future of this critical sector:

TrustAfrica

The government of Senegal

African Union Commission (AUC),

Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA),

United Nations Africa Institute for Development and Economic Planning (IDEP),

Association of African Universities (AAU),

The African Development Bank (AfDB).

The National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa

Association for Development in African Education (ADEA)

The Carnegie Corporation of New York (CCNY)

MasterCard Foundation and

The World Bank

I thank Hon. Professor Mary Teuw Niane and his team at the Ministry of higher education and research; members of the interior ministry and foreign affairs for the time and effort devoted, to the preparation and organization of this meeting.

Your unwavering commitment is the type of dedication that we would wish all Ministers would demonstrate, so that we can follow your example.

To many of us, TrustAfrica was and is still possibly an unknown quantity. TrustAfrica is one of those rare African organisations currently engaged in an ongoing process of leveraging philanthropic resources from both the continent and the global North. TrustAfrica works to support and promote African agency on continental initiatives such as this Summit.

In terms of size we are indeed a very small organization, with a tendency to punch above our weight and our strength is drawn from our deep conviction for Africa to achieve shared development and inclusive democratic governance.

We accept that we do not hold a monopoly on this, and we have friends and partners helping us along the way to realise this grand vision for our continent. I am privileged to call everyone here a FRIEND of TrustAfrica based on your willingness to participate in this game-changing process that will produce a strategy that will take this sector into the next 50 years.

Thank You and welcome.

Having embarked on a journey this long, with a vision so big, I am excited to stand here today reflecting on the road travelled to get here.

As the Chair of the Board of Trustees at TrustAfrica, I have watched anxiously for a period of more than two years as the architects developed the plans and broke-ground for this, the African higher education summit.

In 2010, TrustAfrica held the first of a series of national convenings in Botswana. Little did I know that the African Union would someday utilize the outcomes of this initiative to feed into the 2016-2020 African Union: African higher education continental strategy.

I am excited by the vision of the African Union Commission, represented here by Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.

The African Union through Agenda 2063, has captured the spirit in which we all need to come together to build our continent, to take on the burden of asking the difficult questions and doing the hard work ourselves as Africans.

By developing this strategy the African Union has embraced the principles upon which the OAU was founded by Africa’s fore fathers in 1963.

It may have taken 50 years, but by developing a global strategy to optimize the use of Africa’s resources and to encourage stakeholders to learn from the past and build on the progress made to ensure positive socio economic transformation, we as Africans are now taking the continent forward. Embracing Pan-Africanism, jointly seeking collective solutions to continental problems and pursuing the ideals of African unity!

And now that the stage is set, it is NOW time for us to do the work!

At TrustAfrica we believe that improved access to quality Higher Education for all of our citizens could be the missing link inhibiting the realisation of an inclusive Africa Rising.

 Our work in promoting Equitable Development, Democratic Governance and enhancing African Philanthropy are all predicated upon progress made in higher education sector, as the cradle of skills development, knowledge generation and production.

For this reason we chose not to sit back and watch experts lead the process.

We have since 2010 been facilitating collaborations among African institutions and building relationships with like-minded partners such as the Carnegie Corporation, towards the creation of a continental platform to spearhead the urgent transformation of the sector.

At the moment African higher education has evolved very little and has thrived on relatively small changes. However global and technological innovations demand a realization that higher education is on the verge of a major transformation and for us here on the continent we have to embrace the change lest we are left behind again.

It is becoming increasingly important to think about what the industry might look like in 10 years, 50 years and beyond.

The value of determining our own path is that we empower Africa with a collective voice that will be heard on a global stage.

The post-2015 sustainable development agenda is upon us, with 2015 marking the end of the Millennium Development Goals and the launch of a new global framework for development.

This Summit presents a unique opportunity for us as stakeholders to work together to seek sustainable solutions for the development of the continent, understanding that education has many purposes, such as preparation for the labor market, preparation for democratic citizenship, personal development, and the development of a broad, advanced knowledge base.

Evidence shows that universities and research institutions play a significant role in development, but we are faced with the dilemma of whether or not higher education should be a development goal in its own right, or an agent to address other development goals?

It is therefore, not enough for us to spend our time here, on what we already know, but to look forward and reflect on new opportunities, possibilities and what we should be doing differently to enhance our beloved sector.

I was disappointed to learn from the reports done on the national convenings held by TrustAfrica between 2010 and 2014, that few administrators are being invited and participating in policy discussions on the sector, locally, regionally or continentally.

This needs to change. How can we promote change outside of policy? Such omissions result in rising gaps as policy is developed in isolation of those who should implement it.

Already there is need for an urgent conversation between the higher education sector and business. The absence of such a platform has resulted in the topical issues of graduate unemployment and unemployability.

How can policy ensure that business, especially foreign investors, are utilizing local skills not only as general labourers but in key decision making positions.

It is also time to consider ways of closing the finance gap through collaboration by developing more integrated and sophisticated relationships between sectors in the next 10 years?.

We all know that national governments have not allocated adequate financial resources to the sector because of the competing demands for these resources.

As a philanthropic organisation TrustAfrica believes that Africa’s different forms of giving need to be encouraged and strengthened to enhance locally-driven development especially in the development of the higher education sector.

We acknowledge the various scholarship initiatives, but these on their own will not contribute towards a more systematic transformation of the sector. We need mechanisms that can deploy financial resources towards enhancing institutional governance of our universities, research institutions, promoting and investing in the study of Science, Technology and Mathematics.

Therefore, we hope to stem the tide of disinvestment by governments and also encourage African philanthropy to step in and provide the necessary funding, hopefully in programs that suit the national good and meet continental needs, advancing equitable development.

It will be critical for many institutions to change their funding models to be able to continue offering required services.

This calls for a shift in mind sets towards an appreciation that higher education institutions need to transform themselves to meet demands beyond theory by enhancing processes of tangible transformation.

The future indeed looks bright for higher education when it comes to the possibilities of technology.

It is critical that individuals at all levels of higher education begin to think futuristically about how these technologies can be deployed.

Otherwise, we risk being controlled by, rather than in control of, the changes.

As technology moves forward, the higher education experience – both face to face and online will transform dramatically.

Technology’s impact on higher education will see the sector move to meet the needs of none traditional students, adult learners, address gender mainstreaming and in some instances resolve the challenges created by declining budgets.

But modern technologies should not be adopted at the expense of traditional knowledge systems as it is our collective burden to preserve our heritage and build trust in African initiatives.

I believe that the lives and livelihoods of African and indeed any other people are shaped by what they know about where they come from.

I am proud to declare TrustAfrica’s commitment to the transformation of the African higher education sector.

It is fitting that our emblem is the acacia tree. We realise that this process of transformation will take more than one actor hence, the need for continuing gatherings such as this summit, to ensure that we have consensus and are learning from one another.

Looking into the future, I hope higher education institutions? will pave the way for broad based African unity, by looking beyond individual borders and adopting learning programmes that promote integration.

Africa is a continental union with 8 Regional Economic Communities.

It is the youngest continent of the world. In 2050, half of Africa’ s population will be under 24 years old and by 2100 almost half of the world’s youth will be African.

It is a continent which has a lot of natural resources, but its greatest wealth is its human resources, in particular its youth.

Therefore, to meet the challenge of sustainable development, Africa will need well educated young girls and boys who will be able to create their own jobs and compete with their peers in the world.

After-all, the challenges of today are also opportunities for us to make a mark on the continent and to harness our collective energies.

Friends. Welcome to this- the 2015 African higher education summit.

Thank you!