The Forum on Transforming Knowledge for Africa’s Future is the culmination of several years of reflection by the African Union, UNESCO, the United Nations system, and other partners on the future of Africa and its intellectual contribution to our shared future.

It is a flagship event within the framework of the African Union Year of Education 2024 and the largest gathering of UNESCO chairs and partners since the 30th anniversary celebration conference held in Paris two years ago.

The starting point of this forum is an observation made in the report of the International Commission on the Futures of Education, and I quote: “We face an existential choice: continue on an unsustainable path or radically change course.”

This is true in Africa, but it is also true in the rest of the world.

But to radically change course, if we want to shape other possible futures for Africa and for humanity, we must change the way we define, produce, and use knowledge.

And so, put simply, the question is: How can we transform knowledge?

I will address this question from three perspectives.

The epistemological perspective

First, the epistemological perspective. At UNESCO, we base our approach on the idea that knowledge, knowledge systems, as well as the worldviews they express, and the languages and cultures that carry them, are part of the intangible heritage of humanity. There are some seven thousand languages used globally today, at least a third of which are used in Africa.

The common heritage of knowledge they transmit is the result of the contribution of the diversity of cultures and worldviews. It is a shared resource, open and accessible to all, which must be protected from any exclusion.

Technological innovation must help us in this mission. But as the 2021 Sahle-Work Report rightly said: it is about renewing the relationship between humans and technology. Technological innovation is changing the very nature of knowledge, the way it is shared, governed, and used.

We must, however, guide the use of digital technologies in/through education, research, and innovation to overcome historical exclusions and the narrowing of diversity that characterizes the common good that is knowledge.

This is our common battle, of course, at UNESCO, but I am sure that this magnificent hall as well, for open education, open science, and open data, both at the level of normative instruments and their implementation.

We must also go beyond narrow conceptions of what constitutes truly scientific knowledge and better recognize, value, and mobilize the diverse ways of knowing and understanding the world, particularly regions like Africa, which have seen the birth of important civilizations in the past, but which especially hold the highest potential for human capital for the future.

The cultural and historic perspective

And this brings me to the second perspective, I wish to touch on today, which is about cultural and historical implications of transforming knowledge. 

Africa has been a priority for UNESCO since its foundation, in recognition of the continent's crucial role in achieving global peace, security and prosperity for all.

From traditional knowledge and immense linguistic diversity to cutting-edge research, Africa's wisdom, science, and collective intelligence are the crossroad between the past and the future, not only of this content, but of humanity and the planet.

400 million African youth today are ready to carry on this huge responsibility of changing the course of history, through new forms of intellectual and political leadership, through true ownership of their continental Agenda (Agenda 2063), and new kind of partnerships with the rest of the world.

For Africa to achieve Agenda 2063 and drive its own future, these young people will need to be valued, supported, and made free to mobilize their own resources, as students, researchers, intellectual leaders, and global citizens.

Is it a rhetorical statement or can we see the pathway to go through?

At UNESCO, we call it Priority Africa. It’s based on the principle, a constitutional principle of the Organization, that education, culture, the sciences, are essential levers for all. 

It is therefore essential to question how visions of Africa's future are informed and constructed, by whom historically, and what role knowledge systems, including, crucially, higher education, play in these visions today. 

For Africa to shape its future, it must reclaim the memory of its past.

This is why, sixty years ago, UNESCO launched the monumental General History of Africa, to correct historical inaccuracies, highlight Africa’s contribution to the general progress of humanity, and, most importantly, to tell the world (in Africa and elsewhere) the history of Africa from an African perspective.

Our aim now is to make these narratives accessible to all and to embed this perspective into curriculum, from classrooms to cultural spaces, and to fully embed GHA in curriculum and university programmes.

As any form of intellectual dominance and colonization starts with languages, culture and education systems, any decolonization process must have education at the core.

Just last week, on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly, UNESCO Director-General, Audrey Azoulay announced a new initiative for knowledge sharing and intercultural dialogue, connecting places of memory and museums of slavery in Africa, the Americas, and Europe. 

An alliance of university chairs from the three continents is being established to advance knowledge of these historical events and around issues of racism and discrimination against people of African descent. 

The socio-economic perspective

And this brings me also to the last dimension, which bridges the past and future, which is the socio-economic dimension.

The future of Africa is intimately linked to its demographic trend.

By 2050, the youth population in sub-Saharan Africa is expected to reach 830 million, meaning one in every three young people worldwide will live here.

This young population holds immense potential if and only if given access to quality education and training opportunities.

“Eduquer ou perir” (Educate or perish), just to quote the title of a famous book by Joseph Ki-Zerbo, kindly given to me by the Professor Mohamed Belhocine.

However, as we know, significant barriers persist: nearly 100 million African children and youth are out of school, one in four primary schools lack electricity, there is a shortage of 15 million teachers, and I could continue the list. Most importantly, there is an annual financing gap to meet national education targets on the continent, which is around 77 billion USD.

These challenges are further compounded by global knowledge imbalances and dependencies. 

• Only 1% of global scientific research is produced in Africa.

• African countries on average invest just under 0.6% of GDP in research and development (R&D), compared to the global average, which is almost 1.8%.

• Sub-Saharan Africa has only 94 researchers per million inhabitants compared to the world average, which is 1,353 researchers per million inhabitants.

• Enrolment rates in tertiary education in sub-Saharan Africa are the lowest of any world region, which is around 9% compared to the world average of 40%. 

In this context, education is a right, but above all, a duty for everyone. 

Again, éduquer ou périr. 

Strengthening education systems, and higher education, in particular, is critical to Africa’s future.

UNESCO’s Campus Africa programme is about reinforcing the higher education and research ecosystem on the continent, enhancing mobility and employability, including through the Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualification in Higher Education that UNESCO Member States adopted four years ago.

This International Forum is designed in the same spirit of redressing the global imbalances in knowledge, research, science, and higher education. 

That means imbalances and inequalities in society at large. 

The common thread connecting these approaches, is easy to say: it’s about peace.

As UNESCO’s Constitution says: 

“Peace must be founded, if it is not to fail, upon the intellectual and moral solidarity of humankind.”

This is the spirit of the global network of UNESCO Chairs and UNITWIN Networks. The number of UNESCO Chairs in Africa is growing, with nine new African countries year, in addition to the 31 already existing. 

These Chairs are a key modality for enhancing such intellectual and scientific solidarity. 

It is a means of redressing knowledge exclusions, inequalities, hierarchies, and epistemic injustice, which is no less important than social injustice.

By Stefania Giannini,

UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education, at the UNESCO Chairs and Partners Forum on Transforming Knowledge for Africa’s Future.