At the beginning of the 21st century much of Africa still faces massive challenges to successful economic and social development. But how should African countries respond to the imperatives of globalisation and pro-poor growth?

Research coordinated by the Centre of African Studies at the University of Edinburgh examined what challenges globalisation poses for education, training and enterprise development in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. Findings confirmed the potential negative impact of globalisation for African development, but also showed the potential opportunities for positive responses in policy and practice.

Emphasising the importance of national contexts, the research design in each of the three countries was tailored to areas highlighted by national researchers as important. Under a broad framework the design focussed on points of intersection between sectors.

Research findings include:

• Policy, research and practice have underplayed the interconnectedness of sectors which has resulted in weak analysis.
• Enhancing individual, societal and enterprise learning is crucial to Africa responding to globalisation in a way that benefits the mass of its population.
• Education policies of donors and African governments are inadequately grounded in a consideration of how economic growth is to be generated, and what knowledge and skills are required to support it.
• Skills’ development has been marginalised in international development strategies but remains important to national and individual development strategies.
• Progress among Africa’s micro and informal economies remains fragile in the face of broader economic and political trends, and weaknesses in knowledge, skills and infrastructure.

Policy implications include:

• ‘Learning enterprises’ in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa are important to a strategy that promotes both poverty reduction and competitiveness, but they need to be facilitated through an enabling environment.
• Education policies need to avoid an excessive focus on the primary sector and address the challenge of education's broader contribution to development.
• Training reforms should seek to build relationships between public providers and firms of all sizes, and degrees of formality.
• Micro and small enterprises need more than microcredit and an enabling environment but any other interventions must be sensitive to their possible impact on the self-reliance of the sector.
• Donor agencies and governments need to develop their capacity to think and act across sectoral and departmental boundaries.

Source(s):
'Learning to Compete', Education Research Series #42, UK Department for International Development (DFID), by Dela Afenyadu, Kenneth King, Simon McGrath, Henry Oketch, Christian Rogerson, Kobus Visser (2001)
'Enterprise in Africa', Intermediate Technology Publications, London edited by Kenneth King and Simon McGrath (1999)

Funded by: UK Department for International Development (DFID), Education Department, October 1996 - September 1999

id21 Research Highlight: 20 March 2001

Further Information:
Simon McGrath or Kenneth King
Centre of African Studies
University of Edinburgh
7 Buccleuch Place
Edinburgh EH8 9LW
Scotland

Tel: +44 (0)131 6504321/3878/3879
Fax: +44 (0)131 650 6535
Contact the contributor: S.McGrath@ed.ac.uk

Contact the contributor: Kenneth.King@ed.ac.uk

Centre of African Studies, Edinburgh, UK

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World Learning - Education and Learning for Global Effectiveness

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Learning Development Institute is dedicated to the study of learning

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EDC is an education and health organisation focusing on learning on a global scale