The young African population suffers from a lack of education. Structural adjustment programs have tended to undermine policies in this area due to the drastic cuts made to the budgets of the states concerned. Secondary school enrolment rates have increased, rising from 14% of school-age children to 27% between 1980 and 1996. However, there are significant disparities between countries and, overall, these figures are significantly higher in North Africa.

According to UNESCO, in 2012 there were 4.8 million students in higher education institutions in sub-Saharan countries, almost twenty-five times the figure in 1970. The population growth and the resources deployed by states to improve access to primary and secondary education explain the increase in attendance at African campuses. The continent remains behind the rest of the world, with a higher education enrolment rate of 6% according to UNESCO, compared to 13% in southern and western Asia and 72% in North America and Western Europe.

Improving education in Africa could reduce the number of poor people by about 47 million by 2043 and increase GDP by US$368.4 billion (or 4.3 percent), with an increase of about US$240 in GDP per capita, according to a study by the Institute for Security Studies’ Future Africa and Innovation program. Other research shows that each additional year of schooling is associated with an increase of nearly 0.6 percent in the long-term GDP growth rate.

Despite this, Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, continues to struggle to improve educational outcomes. The 2022 progress report on the implementation of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 indicates that Africa has achieved only 44% of its education targets. Access to schooling remains limited at the primary level and many children are out of school. According to UNESCO, more than 20% of children aged 6 to 11 and more than 33% of those aged 12 to 14 are out of school in sub-Saharan Africa. For the 15 to 17 age group, this rate reaches 60%.

Africa has achieved only 44% of the education targets of Agenda 2063. Although the gross primary enrolment rate in sub-Saharan Africa was 101.7% in 2019, the figures drop for lower and higher levels of education, reaching 58.4% and 36.6% respectively. Tertiary education shows the lowest levels, with a gross enrolment rate below 10%.

Access to education is unequal, particularly for women. UNESCO estimates that in Africa, nine million girls aged 6 to 11 are out of school, compared to six million boys in the same age group.

For more information :

• https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portail:Afrique
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa
• https://africacenter.org/
• https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/
• https://etudes-africaines.cnrs.fr/
• https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/
• https://www.afdb.org/fr/documents-publications/economic-perspectives-en-afrique-2024