The Future of Learning

African economies and businesses cannot fulfil their full potential without skilled and engaged people. But sustained skills growth in Africa is at risk. We believe the future of learning in Africa should be built around vertically-integrated, shared-value learning pathways.

A traditional approach to improved education in Africa may itself ensure African talent remains outside the mainstream and unable to fulfil its full potential in either local or world economies…! Could it be that the earnest pursuit of better education for African youth may itself exacerbate the degree to which they remain uneducated relative to their global peers? If so, might the emerging threat be that as the 4th Industrial Revolution becomes the norm and the pace of learning accelerates for young Europeans, Americans and Asians, that young Africans are once more “standing at the touchlines to witness a game that they should be playing”?

The scale of this potential trap is formidable and must not to be underestimated. Yet, the opportunity is here, not to continue to stifle the potential of the people of Africa, but to unleash it. The question is, how can this best be done, quickly, effectively, at the right costs, and in such a way that both business and society prosper.

IDM’s Future of Learning in Africa was published in 2019 explores some of the options that may help resolve this paradox, with an intention both to help inform policy and also stimulate ideas for learning initiatives in both corporate and non-state actors.

Read the full white paper here.