By Stanley Senya
Accra, Sept. 29, GNA – African higher education leaders have called for a shared vision to transform universities into drivers of human capital development, innovation, research, and economic growth across the continent.
The call was made at the inaugural Higher Education Transformation Convening hosted by the Mastercard Foundation in Accra on the theme: “Reimagining Higher Education for Africa’s Human Capital Development.”
The event brought together representatives of higher education institutions, the African Union, government ministries, financial institutions, industry, development partners, and young people to discuss reforms needed to make higher education more relevant and impactful.
Ms Sewit Ahderom, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mastercard Foundation, said higher education transformation required universities to align curricula with the needs of employers and national economies.
She said institutions must equip graduates with relevant skills, develop credentials that reflected competencies, and prepare young people to lead emerging technologies shaping African economies.
Ms Ahderom called for stronger links between universities, industry, and government to ensure that research moved beyond campuses to support enterprise development, employment creation, and community development.
Dr John Nkengasong, Executive Director of Higher Education and Strategic Initiatives at the Mastercard Foundation, said Africa’s growing youth population presented an opportunity that required higher education institutions to develop and retain talent.
He said higher education transformation should be treated as an economic imperative requiring collaboration among governments, universities, industry, investors, and development partners.
Professor Saidou Madougou, Director of the African Union Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, said the African Union’s Decade of Education and Skills Development, 2025–2034, called for stronger education systems and skills aligned with the continent’s development priorities.
He said African countries needed to strengthen collaboration among universities, expand faculty and student mobility, and create systems that allowed talent, knowledge, and innovation to move across borders.
The convening also featured the inaugural Africa Higher Education for Transformation (AHEFT) Prize, which recognised institutions implementing sustained, institution-wide transformation in teaching, research, innovation, and graduate employment.
The 2026 laureates were Addis Ababa University of Ethiopia, the International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering of Burkina Faso, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology of Ghana, Muni University of Uganda, and the University of Rwanda.
The prize, backed by a US$500 million commitment, is expected to recognise at least 150 institutions across Africa over the next decade, with each winning institution receiving US$3 million to scale transformative initiatives.
Madam Susan Chomba, Chair of the AHEFT Jury, said the inaugural laureates demonstrated different approaches to transforming higher education, including strengthening teaching, research, industry engagement, and responses to local challenges.
She said the examples provided practical lessons that could be adapted by other institutions seeking to improve their contribution to Africa’s development.
Participants also emphasised the need for young people to be actively involved in decisions affecting education, employment, and opportunities, while encouraging stronger partnerships between higher education institutions, governments industry, and development partners.
They called for stakeholders to translate the shared commitments into action by strengthening the links between education, employment, research and investment to equip more young Africans to learn, earn and lead.
GNA
Edited by Linda Asante Agyei