The importance of Higher Education is explicitly stipulated in Target 4.3 in SDG 4 in promoting quality tertiary education for all including universities. It further supported by African Union Agenda 2063 with a focus promoting prosperous Africa, based on Inclusive growth and sustainable development. The Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA) 2024 with a focus on Innovation and entrepreneurship; enabling environment; infrastructure development and technical competences. African Higher education systems are at varying degrees of development both in terms of their capacity to respond to the increasing demand for higher education due to the youth bulge and the quality and relevance of their programs. The impact of globalization has brought about winds of change in all human development spheres including education. Trends are occurring in education in both developed and developing nations, at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, as well as in adult education regardless of whether the education is public or private, on every continent of the world.
The trends are: technology use and integration which not only enhance education, but also continue to drive learning of all kinds; expansion of mobile technology which makes opportunities for learning to exist everywhere and all the time; increased creativity where knowledge is both created and co-created, not simply “imparted” by teachers - students do not just take in facts, they create new knowledge; global approaches to learning characterised by shared interests, curiosity and a hunger for learning are driving us to reach beyond our own borders; global mobility where teachers and students experience the world, more often, starting from a younger age and finally borderless education where the barrier of geography is being transcended by technology, creativity and a desire to “go global”.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution characterized mainly by cyber physical systems, digital, and biological worlds has also changed the higher education land scape. The fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, genetic engineering, quantum computing, and other technologies requires higher education training to produce graduates with skills of: 1) Complex Problem Solving 2) Critical Thinking 3) Creativity 4) People Management 5) Coordinating with Others 6) Emotional Intelligence 7) Judgment and Decision Making 8) Service Orientation 9) Negotiation and 10) Cognitive Flexibility.
Despite the above trends, education continues to suffer from the magnitude of the financial burden to expand access and improve quality at the same time is such that very few countries in Africa can afford to go it alone. These challenges call for inter-country, sub-regional and global cooperation in Higher Education with the view to promote recognition of studies, certificates, diplomas, degrees and mobility of students and faculty. In so doing, the strategy seeks to create major systemic changes in the structure and content of higher education so that it can help countries develop common strategic frameworks for addressing common and pressing developmental issues.