Education is a fundamental human right – and it is key to unlocking other human rights opportunities, including social, economic, cultural, political, and civil rights. It is, therefore, no accident that both the AU’s Agenda 2063 and UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognize its transformative power – and have prioritized education as a critical enabler of inclusive growth and development. The emphasis also aligns closely with the Calls to Action for investment in education towards the full implementation of SDG 4 – made on the occasion of the Transforming Education Summit, held in September 2022.

From gender equality and empowerment of women and girls to decent work, equal pay – and even the ownership of land – it all builds on the hard-won gains achieved by many African countries themselves, to improve access to education and promote gender parity in primary school enrolment.

Amid the cross currents of technological change, armed conflict, climate, and geopolitical shifts shaping societies today, we must work together, in solidarity, to ensure education systems are anchored in the values that are timeless – and processes that are fit for purpose, across the board.

We know that access to inclusive, quality learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is particularly effective in spurring an uptake in home-grown solutions to sustainable development.

This makes STEM education a central element in harnessing the full potential of Africa’s vibrant and burgeoning youth population.

By 2050, one in every four people – and more than a third of the world’s young people aged 15-24 – are expected to be African.

To realize Africa’s ambitions, it is essential that we address the bottlenecks stifling the potential of its national education systems – particularly in STEM-related fields – among others, inadequate infrastructure, insufficient qualified teachers and funding.

More broadly, we must enhance the stability and resilience of African societies – doing more to attenuate the devastating effects of external shocks, from conflict to climate change, on the functioning of national education systems.

We must wake up from our stupor of the ballooning debt crisis – which is forcing many African countries to divert critical public funding from education towards the servicing of exorbitant interest payments.

This difficult choice is snuffing out the policy space needed to promote growth and social equity – an unjust contortion of priorities no country should be forced to make.

Indeed, between 2020 and 2023, only 12 countries met the benchmark of allocating at least 15 per cent of total public expenditure and 3 per cent of GDP to education.

To turn things around, we must deliver on inclusive financing for development – anchored foremost in domestic resource mobilization systems that are robust and consistently effective.

Strengthening partnerships – among Governments, civil society, youth and women’s associations, the private sector and development partners – will be crucial if we are to enhance the resilience of national education systems and maximize their role in driving transformation across the African continent.

The Summit of the Future in September – when world leaders are expected to forge a new global consensus on tackling global challenges – will be a key moment to make progress on the future of education.

We cannot miss this opportunity to ensure that Africa’s young people are well equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to prosper.

We must encourage scaled up international cooperation in information and knowledge sharing – in order to ensure that skilling, reskilling and upskilling opportunities keep pace with the winds of change permeating our societies.

This level of cooperation is critical for advancing the adoption and implementation of meaningful science, technology and innovation (STI) policies.

It would go a long way to bridging the digital divide that permeates the crisis of access – invigorating Africa’s education systems, and encouraging research, and slowing the brain drain across the continent.

With a determined focus, STI can propel Africa’s industrial development – sparking holistic economic transformations that offer more and better job opportunities, for all.

“Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world,” in the words of Nelson Mandela.

Together, let us ensure that people – everywhere – have access to the benefits of science and technological progress.

Let us unlock the full potential of STI as a driver towards the “Africa We Want.”

Mr. Dennis Francis,

President of the UN General Assembly