African leaders have called for increased investment in higher education, research and innovation to strengthen human capital development and drive economic progress across the continent.
The call was contained in a statement made available to the news reporters on Thursday by the Mastercard Foundation following its inaugural Higher Education Transformation Convening in Accra, Ghana.
Newsmen report that the convening, held under the theme, “Reimagining Higher Education for Africa’s Human Capital Development,” brought together leaders from higher education institutions, the African Union (AU), governments, financial institutions, industry and youth organisations.
Prof. Saidou Madougou, Director, AU Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, said higher education spending in Africa averaged less than 0.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while research and development received less than 0.5 per cent of national budgets.
Madougou said Africa needed to strengthen collaboration among universities, expand faculty and student mobility and build systems that allowed talent, knowledge and innovation to move across borders.
“The African Union’s Decade of Education calls on us to view higher education as a strategic investment in Africa’s future,” he said.
He said higher education transformation was a continental project that required increased investment, stronger partnerships and collective action.
Mrs Sewit Ahderom, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mastercard Foundation, said universities needed to become institutions that contributed directly to economic development and opportunities for young people.
Ahderom said curricula should be developed with employers to ensure that what students learnt reflected the needs of their countries and prepared them for the world of work.
She also advocated credentials that demonstrated graduates’ skills and could be recognised across borders, as well as institutions that equipped young people to engage with emerging technologies.
Dr John Nkengasong, Executive Director, Higher Education and Strategic Initiatives, Mastercard Foundation, said Africa’s young and growing population presented a major opportunity for the continent.
“Higher education transformation is not simply an education agenda. It is an economic imperative,” Nkengasong said.
He said governments, universities, industry, investors and development partners needed to work together to build systems that enabled young people and economies to thrive.
According to him, no single institution could achieve the required transformation alone.
The statement said participants at the convening also explored ways to strengthen research, innovation and skills development in areas where Africa had strategic advantages and potential for impact.
It said discussions further emphasised stronger partnerships between universities and the private sector to align talent development and applied research with changing workforce needs.
The statement said young people also called for their experiences and aspirations to be reflected in decisions affecting education, employment and opportunities.
The convening aligns with the AU Decade of Education and Skills Development (2025–2034), which seeks to strengthen education systems, improve learning outcomes and promote skills development in line with Africa’s long-term development priorities, including Agenda 2063.
The event also featured the inaugural Africa Higher Education for Transformation (AHEFT) Prize, which recognised institutions advancing sustained, institution-wide transformation.
The 2026 laureates are Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; International Institute for Water and Environmental Engineering, Burkina Faso; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana; Muni University, Uganda; and University of Rwanda.
The Mastercard Foundation has committed 500 million dollars to the prize over the next decade, with at least 150 institutions expected to be recognised.
Each winning institution will receive three million dollars to scale transformative initiatives aimed at expanding education opportunities for young people across Africa.
The foundation said the next challenge was to translate the consensus from the convening into action at scale by strengthening connections between education, employment, research and investment.
It said higher education institutions, governments, industry, investors and development partners needed to identify system-level changes they could collectively advance by 2028.