The revelation by Dr Sally Kosgei (Kenya’s Higher Education Minister) that most university applicants do not qualify to receive research funds as their research topics neither pass the test of time nor address the country’s challenges is a pointer that Kenya’s higher education is coming of age. Only recently, Mr Elijah Wante, the director of Law Development Center (LDC) in Uganda also accused universities and secondary schools of churning out half-baked students who end up being a disgrace.

Africa continues to suffer from treatable diseases, food scarcity, energy crisis, drought and non-exploitation of her natural and human resource while the continent’s elites either fold their arms, put begging bowl in hand or sink their countries further into economic doldrums.

Africa must cultivate a triangular relationship between government, business, and academia in the entire value chain of education, from elementary school to tertiary level, and subsequently to the transfer of skills and knowledge in industry and workforce. The failure of the three players to consolidate their roles into an interdependent relationship that links demand and supply of scientific and technological innovations on a scale needed to transform society partly explains why Africa remains impoverished as it transfers wealth-creating aspects of a value addition to developed countries. It is time that Africa domesticated its education to spur rapid socioeconomic transformation.