Africa

The rapid growth in technology presents Kenya with an opportunity to become a middle-income knowledge economy, CS Joe Mucheru has said.

Building Africa’s Knowledge Economy

Development economists often differ with one another, but they agree on this: the knowledge economy will be the foundation of every nation’s progress in the twenty-first century. Yet while East Asia and other regions have been making substantial gains in building a…

“Heads of state came together and decided that education has to contribute to making Africa a knowledge economy. You cannot have a knowledge economy without higher education institutions. Universities in Africa are expected to play a role in the generation of knowledge.”

Multiple positive signs for African higher education

A growing emphasis on the knowledge economy has led the bank to recognise the urgent need for a better-funded African higher education sector that is both able to produce the research and the workforce needed for tomorrow’s knowledge-driven economy.

World Bank shifts thinking on African university funding

On the knowledge economy front, Cape Town’s universities play a role in attracting foreign companies looking for educated employees.

Rachel McLaughlin, local director of S-RM, a London-headquartered business intelligence firm, said this was the reason it had decided on Cape Town as a base in Africa.

African ‘centre of gravity’