Trade, not aid, will catalyse the economic development of African communities. As the world economy shifts toward more advanced knowledge-based sectors, skills development becomes a central issue for our continent both at the national and regional level.
Human capital: The knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over a lifetime.
Countries with higher levels of human capital development are more resilient to economic shocks because human capital accumulation allows people, organizations, and society to unleash, strengthen, adapt, and maintain industrial capacity. The ability of African communities to manage their own affairs successfully hangs this.
Because most of the end product of African natural resources is consumed in foreign markets, investment in skills development is low.
For example, Niger is Africa’s first producer of uranium but does not process nor use it domestically. Yet, investing in skills development is just as important as natural resources for economic growth.
Africa must create enabling environments that will help transform farmers and entrepreneurs’ role in commodity production – from merely exporting raw materials to becoming exporters of high-quality finished products directly to international markets.
Commodity dependence and poor economic diversification impede the growth of local manufacturing capacity and heavily impact Africa’s competitive advantage.
Our continent holds 50% of the world’s cobalt reserves, 40% of its gold reserves and 13% of the world’s natural gas, with potentially significant energy reserves in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana.
African countries must seize the opportunity to boost their industrial capacity, in order to claim their spot in the global value chain. They will achieve this goal with innovation, identifying and developing the talent of its young population.
Africa’s failure to benefit more fully from the talents of its young people is costing the continent dearly. Equipped with the right skills, our youth will be competitive in the global economy.
Africa must confront its human capital development challenges, and leverage the opportunities they present. Experts focus on education as the prime engine to improve human capital development in Africa. But education alone cannot transform an economy.
Whichever economic model better suits Africa should be tailored to the African socio-economic environment. Africa must adapt to transform ideas into practice.
