Africa has a rapidly growing highly-qualified human capital
People often say Africa is rich in natural resources in the same manner they say the Arctic or the oceans are rich in natural resources.
Yes, the Arctic and the oceans are rich in natural resources. But they are our global common, and Africa isn’t. Moreover, the Arctic and the oceans are largely unpopulated, and few people are directly affected by the scramble for resources there. Africa is different.
Saying Africa is “rich in natural resources” often implicitly implies that Africa is barren, which is not true. There are 54 different nations whose peoples have ambitions for a better life.
There are at least two major reasons why singularly focusing on Africa’s natural resources is wrong. First, Africa has a large and rapidly growing well-educated human capital, and people should focus on that. Second, unfair and unsustainable exploitation of natural resources had, and still is having, major adverse effects. Let me first explain the second.
The rush for the control of African natural resources has been a major source of conflict and had significant adverse effects on the continent and its neighbours. Europe’s “migrant crisis” is partly related to it. Africa’s natural resources, such as oil and arable land, are located in regions whose people are increasingly asserting their ownership of their natural resources.
For instance, much has been written about the consequences of the African Land Grab. Though the extent of it is disputed, the image below shows that much of Africa’s arable land is located in densely populated areas where the competition for it often is leading to conflicts. If fertile arable lands are not located in populated areas, they are located in fragile natural reserve areas such as in the Congo Basin.
Africa’s human capital, on the contrary, has much more to offer, it is not contentious unlike the mineral resources, and the more it is utilized the more and the better it gets. Africa is no more as rich in oil, gold, and other minerals as before, simply because the more the minerals are mined, the less remains in the ground, often living a polluted environment behind. On the contrary, “exploiting” the human capital through decent employment opportunities and partnerships in entrepreneurship are highly valued and encouraged.
The human capital of nations goes hand-in-hand with the nation’s ability to provide quality education. Quality education is, in turn, directly related to the nation’s ability to do impactful scientific research.
The figure below shows that with around 100 (the average for sub-Sahara and North Africa) full-time researchers per million inhabitants, Africa has the lowest number of researchers per capita in the world. The world average is 1342 researchers per million inhabitants, and the gap between 1342 and 100 is substantial.
However, these numbers fail to explain two essential facts. First, with a population of 1.4 billion people, Africa has about an equivalent of 140,000 full-time researchers. The actual number of researchers is much higher because two people who spend 50% of their time in research (which is a standard for a university academician) are counted as one FTE (full-time employed) researcher.
Second, not only is this number of researchers substantial, it is also rising rapidly. Africa had only a hundred or so universities a few decades back. Now, as I explained in a previous blog, there are over 2,000 higher education institutes in Africa.
Africa’s struggle to achieve high-quality education is well documented, which gives the impression that things are going backwards in Africa. On the contrary, a quick check on scientific databases, such as Scopus, will show that Africans do more research and publish increasingly high-quality and impactful scientific articles.
The rise of Africa’s human capital is currently not only driven by African governments but also by non-state actors, such as the diaspora. Noticing the skill gap, many private colleges and universities have sprung up all over Africa. Though no statistics are available, many private colleges are started by well-educated diaspora who are highly connected internationally, and who bring back to their home nations their valuable experience of working in modern companies and academic institutions in Europe and North America.
The launching of diaspora-focused programs such as Connecting Diaspora for Development (CD4D) and the EU’s Diaspora Facility (EUDiF) indicate major international bodies such as the UN and EU recognize the role the African diaspora can play in the development of home countries and in linking the advanced economies with the African countries.
It is important to realize that Africa is rapidly becoming richer in highly-qualified human capital, and it is this resource that must attract everyone’s attention.
