African stakeholders restate need for human capital development to grow continent

African stakeholders say human capital development is critical in accelerating growth of the continent.

They said this on Tuesday on the side-lines of the ongoing African Development Bank (AfDB) Group annual meeting in Nairobi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the meeting is “Harnessing Human Capital for Sustainable Growth and Development in Africa: Demographic Dividend and Circular Movement of Skilled Labour.”

The executive director of African Research Consortium, Professor Victor Murinde, said that quality education and harnessing technological development would enable the continent to reap the benefits of human capital development.

He expressed the need for Africans to leverage the private sector in building funding for skills development, invest and leverage technology, and ensure skills development, especially for youth and women.

“We need to focus on investing in small enterprises, such as women enterprises, as that is where there is potential for growth.

“We will ensure we build necessary skills for young people and women, de-risk their investment, and handhold them by providing mentorship. These are ways of supporting human capital development.”
He said the move was to focus on high-quality research by providing opportunities for researchers on the continent to investigate burning research issues using the African dimension.

According to him, this will build Africans’ capacity to lead research on the problems confronting the African continent.

“The ability for countries to research their issues, conduct actual training to boost the quality of people employed in government offices and do high-quality research is key,” he said.

For his part, Mr Kwame Owino, the Chief Executive Officer, Institute of Economic Affairs, reiterated the importance of education in achieving human capital development.

“There are numerous ways of ensuring human capital, but public education is the most basic. That set of people and the progress the country has made are significant factors in what the country is going to look like.

“So we need to ensure human capital is fully developed,” he mentioned.

Similarly, Mr Williams Asiko, the Vice-President African Regional Office of Rockefeller Foundation, said the foundation was engaging in various projects to ensure human capital development on the continent.

“Part of what we have done is to support institutions where this human capacity can make a difference. Look at areas where there are gaps and build capacity around those areas.

“And one of the areas we focused on is building a carbon market in Africa that is fit for the world,” he said.

Meanwhile, Dr Martha Phiri, the Director of Human Capital and Skills Development at the AfDB, said that this year was a year of education, and human capital was at the centre of social transformation for Africa.

“The bank recognises that a healthy, productive, and informative workforce will drive transformation, food security, power plants, improved care services and health education, among other things.

“We have taken some approach that is not just about agriculture, but that is all-encompassing to integrate this into all that we do.

“Having affordable healthcare for all is also crucial, as its learning from the experience of COVID-19 on the continent. We support digital health and skills and have provided 600 million dollars to support African countries.

“And as we build skills for young people, we cannot run away from climate impact, so we have to build the necessary skills that are climate-smart,” she said.

(NAN)