Human Capital Africa (HCA), an accountability and advocacy initiative spearheaded by Nigeria’s former Minister of Education and World Bank VP of the African region, Obiageli Ezekwesili, launched on the sidelines of the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES27) themed – “Securing our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now”.
According to the World Bank, 9 out of 10 children in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) do not achieve basic reading and numeracy skills by the age of 10 (World Bank, 2019). This is an alarming statistic, especially when compared to developed economies where only 1 out of 10 children do not achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills at the same age.
To fix this, Human Capital Africa will seek to collaborate with a broad set of stakeholders across the continent, leveraging evidence-based advocacy to mobilize governments and policy makers to take actions that improve early learning outcomes for children and drive the accountability needed to deliver change at scale across sub-Saharan Africa. HCA will help policymakers with the right will to gain access and understanding of globally proven interventions which can easily be adapted to address their country’s specific situation.
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The launch event marks the beginning of pan-continental collaborations that seek to bridge the gap between evidence and action to improve learning outcomes for children under the age of 10, across sub-Saharan Africa. HCA will work to foster collaboration and cooperation across public and private sector leadership with civil society and the public to move human capital – starting with fixing Foundational Literacy and Numeracy – to the center of Africa’s development strategy.
Oby Ezekwesili, CEO of Human Capital Africa said: “This year’s theme for the Nigerian Economic
Summit resonates strongly with HCA’s vision to ensure all boys and girls in SSA have the necessary education and tools to live productive and meaningful lives. Africa’s growing youth population makes this intervention necessary, if we are to reverse the downward learning trend and unlock the dividends that can only come when children can read for meaning and understand basic mathematics. We do not want the children of the poor to continue being left behind in failing public school systems and in turn growing into poverty in their adult life”
“We consider this a call to action for all policymakers, donor organisations, civil society organisations, teachers and parents. We urgently need to secure our children’s future, a cause important enough for all of us to unify for,” Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, Leadership Team Member of HCA and Managing Director of The Education Partnership Centre added.
“Africa will soon be home to more than 50% of the world’s youth. We owe them the opportunity to be productive members of the workforce, contributors to the global economy and society. This will not happen if nine out of ten of them do not achieve basic literacy and numeracy” President Joyce Banda, Chairperson of Advisory board of HCA, former President of Malawi
Guest speakers at the launch included Jakaya Kikwete, former president of Tanzania; royal highness Olori Atuwatse III, governor, Godwin Obaseki, Edo State, amongst other dignitaries.
