Experts attending the ongoing Academia-Public-Private Sector Forum in Kigali have called for mass private sector investments in education so as to boost innovation on the job market.

They say that, for the East African Community (EAC) to achieve its ambitious goals there is need for the private sector to work closely with varsities to invest in research and innovation so that higher institutions of learning could produce skilled graduates.

Speaking at the opening of two day forum organised by Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), EAC Secretary-General Richard Sezibera stressed the need for shared technology skills across the region as partner states strive to open up borders to a single monetary and customs union.

 "We will not achieve much if we don’t allow free flow of these skills across the region,” he said, urging institutions of higher learning to embrace research and innovation which, he said, is a driving force in the developed world.

Sezibera pointed to the skills situation in the region, showing that in 2006, there were only 35 research and development centres in Africa compared to 861 in North America, 655 in Asia, and 1556 in Europe.

"We want to compete, we must look at the gap between Africa and Europe. I am informed that Africa has only 35 scientists and engineers per one million inhabitants compared to 168 in Brazil that has the same population as East Africa, Europe has 2,457 and US 4,103,” he said.

"Despite these gaps, we are spending less than one per cent on research innovation compared to 2 per cent in Europe, 2.6 per cent in the US and 3.4 per cent in Japan.”

He said the region has the biggest gap yet spending the least to try and close this gap.

"We can’t achieve much in our endeavors unless we invest in education and skills development. Part of our poor performance in terms of spending is because of low participation of private sector in financing higher education,” Sezibera said.

"We have 720,000 students across east Africa enrolled in about 334 higher education institutions, compared to the 160,000 in the 1990s, so we have come a very long way but we still have a long way to go.”

Borrowing a leaf

The Minister for Education, Prof. Silas Lwakabamba, said EAC protocol details the need for innovation to drive regional development.

He urged experts to borrow a leaf from emerging economies that have increasingly recognised the need for new technology and innovation which are critical elements for socio-economic development.

"What has been achieved is very minimal compared to what we want; therefore there is need to embark on new strategies that would enable higher education to effectively contribute to building diversity so as to meet the development challenges,” Prof. Lwakabamba said.

The Chairperson of the East African Business Council, Felix Mosha, said for all member states to achieve middle income status, they have to sustain a GDP growth rate of 8 per cent for the next 20 years.

"One thing is clear; East Africa can’t achieve its desired structural transformation with its present skills,” he said.

"The situation now calls for readiness of our region in terms of efficiency and effective completion of various value chains at which we have the competitive and comparative advantage. This should be done with emphasis on innovation that takes account of the multidimensional factors.”

Balancing private-public sector

To develop skills and harness innovation, he said, EAC  must master the challenges of balancing the forces of public and private enterprises in a manner that neither stifles the collective efforts of all.

The Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Kampeta Sayinzoga, emphasised on the need for institutions of higher learning to adjust their curriculums to be able to produce self reliant graduates as "opposed to producing job seekers.”

"It is a question we should keep asking ourselves and must get answers because the umbrella of job seekers is increasing at an alarming rate,” Sayinzoga said.

She added that looking at the number of graduates from the region, there is reason for concern since most of the graduates are becoming job seekers on the job market.

To  position higher education institutions to nurture  academic skills that do not only give intellectual and academic point but also entrepreneurial skills that allow learners to be employers and contribute to the labour market, Sayinzoga said, there is need to engage the private sector in designing, producing and reviewing curricula that are fit for the market.

The forum is expected to look into studies of higher education landscape, and research and innovation capacity building initiatives in East Africa.

The studies have been carried out as part of implementation of 2013 Forum resolutions in Nairobi, Kenya.

Over 30 higher education institutions, private sector institutions, government institutions and other stakeholders from the five partner states are also exhibiting their products and programmes.