Africa’s most precious wealth are, first and foremost, her children, not her natural resources. And the countries that have understood this very fundamental aspect of economic development are the ones that are leading the world. Knowledge is power, isn’t it! This is the reason why the best universities and schools are located in the developed world. And this world is developed because his peoples are better educated and trained than the vast majority of Africans; thus the latter are dominated by the former!
This proverb from the Accra tongue “a blind man does not play in the dust” reminds us of the complexity of the world we live in. In a globalized world with its explicit and implicit rules, only savvy people can understand or decode them. And to understand the rules, one must be educated and/or trained. Otherwise, everything else looks mystical to the layperson. And this explains why Africa, for so many years, was fooled by her “friends”.
Today, more than in the early days of Africa’s “independence”, Africa has more trained people in a vast array of fields. What is lacking is the coordination of these talents because, unfortunately, mediocrity tends to be the norm in several African countries. Thus, the most brilliant people are not always the ones who are in charge. And because they’re not in charge, their vision for a better Africa remains theoretical, while they could actually trigger a powerful reform of Africa’s educational system. And unless Africa’s educational system is calibrated to meet Africa’s true needs, because everything revolves around education, then we could fear that African students, the future leaders, remain the blinds who will be playing in the dust.
