Skills, technology and the African transformation agenda: massive open online courses to the rescue?

Abstract

One of the major developments of the early twenty-first century, largely not fully characterized and understood, was the rapid pace and sustained rate of growth in a majority of African economies, oil and non-oil economies alike. Although growth has slowed considerably in a large number of them, it created new possibilities and challenges, including the challenge of a widening gap, relative to advances in technology and the needs of the economy, in skills and expertise. Put differently, inadequate skills, including under-supply of required skills, is becoming as important a constraint on further growth as foreign exchange. Evidence shows that much of Africa’s recent good growth performance is due to factor accumulation, not to growth in total factor productivity. This policy brief, based on a paper presented of the same title explores these issues. It discusses available evidence and presents a number of recommendations for consideration by African governments and stakeholders in African higher education exploring the feasibility of MOOCs as an additional instrument for bridging the continent’s skills gaps.