Harnessing the empowerment nexus of afropolitanism and higher education: purposeful fusion for Africa’s social progress in the 21st century

Abstract

There has been growing interest in the concept of Afropolitanism. Most of the debates have been centered on defining this concept, as well as the profiles, locations and connections of the Afropolitans vis-à-vis the African continent. The discourse has been guided by the quest for social transformation geared toward social progress on the African continent. Afropolitanism has potential benefits for both the continent and its peoples when envisioning and actualizing national and continental projects for social progress. Recently, Afropolitanism has been associated with the search for better opportunities for education, socio-economic attainment, and in some cases human security, by the people of African origin navigating the global world. Institutions of higher learning, within and outside the continent, have directly or indirectly contributed to the making of the Afropolitan. Thus, formal education in general, and particularly higher education, has been identified as a trigger for increasing Afropolitanism, especially with the emergence of cyberspace.