Fresh raised concerns have been raised over the poor global ranking of African universities, with a warning that the situation could undermine the continent’s technological advancement and industrial development.
A former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan spoke on Monday in Abuja while delivering a lecture titled, “Harnessing Industrial Capacity for Inclusive Growth and Regional Stability in Africa,” to participants of Course 34 of the National Defence College.
The former President said Africa could not achieve meaningful technological development and industrialisation without strengthening its education system and establishing specialised universities capable of producing highly skilled manpower.
He lamented that no African university was ranked among the world’s top 100, while only the University of Cape Town featured among the top 200, describing the situation as “terribly bad.”
“We must review and recalibrate our businesses from the primary schools to the universities. We don’t have any specialised universities in Africa. It’s terribly bad,” Jonathan said.
He therefore urged African leaders to prioritise investment in education, research and human capital development, stressing that the continent’s greatest resource remained its people.
Jonathan maintained that developing the capacity of African universities was essential to building a workforce capable of driving innovation, technological advancement and industrial growth.
He called for deliberate efforts to strengthen institutions of learning from primary schools to universities, saying Africa must develop the human capital required to compete effectively in the global economy.
