03/06/2024
Our CEO Titus Ngatia met with fmr President of Tanzania, His Excellency Jakaya Kikwete on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Group annual meeting. He has been a great inspiration to us especially in light of Education & International Relations. He is not only a polished diplomat and former Head of State in Tanzania but is also a Global Influence on matters Education as the current Global Partnership for Education Chair, Board of Directors since September 2021.
He was in Nairobi for the High Level dialogue on Innovative Financing for Tertiary Education with a keen focus on the role of Private Sector. The take home being that Africa still has a lot of work to do on matters Education. Only 20 Countries in Africa are spending the minimum of 20% of Budgetary allocation in the Education sector which is what countries pledged during the Global Education Summit in 2021. The African Union declared 2024 as 'The Year of Education & hence why the question of FINANCING EDUCATION IN AFRICA is a Fierce Urgency.
We are persuaded that the clamour by His Excellency William Ruto, calling for overdue reforms of the Global Financial Architecture, if prudently prosecuted, can unlock significant resources to our already limited fiscal space in Africa and in turn benefit the Education Sector.
Dr. Ruto's appeal hinges on 4 pillars:
1. Long term financing - 10 to 40 year Grace Period
2. Low interest Concessional Financing and even Grants where possible
3. Financing at SCALE- not incremental as the current debt distress calls for proper liquidity
4. Financing that is AGILE, Responsive or what I like to call 'Intelligent capital'
Even the UN seems to agree with him as evidenced by the existence of The UN FrameWork Convention on International Tax Cooperation. Africa could unlock more resources if Multinationals are better regulated on tax avoidance. In Dr. Ruto's words 'If you do Business in Africa you must pay taxes in Africa'. This could increase tax to GDP ratios in Africa hence unlocking more resources to EDUCATION and other sectors.
Hopefully at this year's UN Summit of the Future in New York, Africa will canvass a solid position and net a good deal for EDUCATION in Africa. After all we keep saying that the largest Labor force of the Future will be in Africa by 2050.
We shall be doing our part at the Future of Education & Work in Africa Conference 2024- www.fewa.africa - to yield more innovative approaches to financing Education in Africa among other Interventions.
