Johannesburg - South African deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has said Africa's future does not lie in the “rise of commodity prices but on the expansion and development of its human capital”.
Speaking during the EY Strategic Growth Forum in Johannesburg on Monday, Ramaphosa said education would play a critical role in the future of the continent.
He noted the South African government had allocated R640 billion to basic education to ensure all pupils received the right learning materials and qualified teachers.
However, he acknowledged challenges still remained when it came to higher education, and said it was important to ensure that “no one is excluded from higher education because of an inability to pay”.
South Africa has been rocked in recent weeks but protests by university students over the high cost of tertiary education in the country. The forum brought a number of leaders together to examine the possibilities for growth on the African continent.
In his opening address, Ramaphosa said: “To do business well in Africa today requires more than traditional economic analysis. It requires an understanding that Africa is a very diverse continent, with a vast array of different social structures, political systems, economies, products and markets.”
Ten mega trends Ramaphosa cited were shared value, regional integration, infrastructure development, entrepreneurship, partnership, that the level of consciousness of the people of the world was rising and that people were becoming more discerning and were not prepared to accept shoddy service, growth of the middle class on the African continent in particular, people's demand for good governance, innovation, particularly the grasp of technology in Africa, as well as hope for the future.
The continent's future, he said, did not lie in the “rise of commodity prices but on the expansion and development of its human capital.”
This was evident in how innovations in the field of technology that were emanating from the continent and which saw the continent's young, bright minds at the forefront of global, cutting-edge change, were making impact.
These innovative technologies played a role in enhancing and enriching lives around them for the better, particularly in rural communities.
Ramaphosa said: “The growth in retail banking, telecommunications, information technology, niche and finished goods has been remarkable.” With over 1 billion people - a demographic that is still growing - Africa had the world's largest, fastest growing middle class and a “young and rapidly expanding workforce”.
A skilled workforce was critical to economic success, and education was one way in which this future success could be achieved.
Furthermore, increased funding has been granted to South Africa's National Student Financial Aid Scheme to provide funding to more poor students. Ramaphosa said there was a need to ensure that the possibilities within the continent were thoroughly explored to ensure Africa's growth strategy well into the future.
The African Union Commission's Agenda 2063 was being used as a charter to implement measures that would benefit the continent's economic growth. “African economies are becoming more diverse, more industrialised and more innovative,” he said.
He noted how the continent, which was working hard to “transform their economies” and solving challenging issues through “mediation, peace and dialogue”, was in transition. “Economic change in Africa is taking place alongside political change,” he said.
AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY