As Africa invests in education, skills and digital transformation, a fundamental question is becoming increasingly urgent: how can the continent turn the knowledge, talent and ingenuity of its people into lasting economic opportunity and shared prosperity? This question lies at the heart of eLearning Africa 2027, taking place in Lomé, Togo, from 26–28 May.
Africa’s greatest resource is not only what lies beneath its soil. It is also the knowledge, talent, creativity and ingenuity of its people. Across the continent, young Africans are developing technologies, starting businesses, advancing research and finding innovative solutions to local and global challenges.
Knowledge, entrepreneurship and innovation are already driving change. The opportunity now is to build on these achievements, strengthen the connections between education, enterprise and society, and ensure that the value created contributes to lasting and widely shared prosperity.
For decades, investment in human capital has been central to African development strategies, with governments and international partners prioritising education, digital connectivity, skills development and employment preparation.
These investments remain essential. But access to education, qualifications and technology cannot, by themselves, create economic opportunity. Equally important is what people can do with the knowledge and skills they acquire, and the conditions that enable them to put their capabilities to work.
What happens when graduates struggle to find employment that uses their skills? When promising research remains confined to universities rather than benefiting businesses or communities? When African innovators lack the finance or infrastructure to bring ideas to market? Or when the economic value generated by African talent and knowledge is captured elsewhere?
These questions go beyond education. They concern the structures of African economies, the strength of their institutions and the continent’s ability to shape its own future.
From developing human capital to creating value
Human capital is traditionally understood as the knowledge, skills and capabilities that make individuals more productive. But developing these capabilities is only part of the equation.
Their value also depends on opportunities to apply them, institutions that support innovation and enterprise, and economies capable of turning ideas and expertise into products, services, employment and improved living standards.
This calls for closer connections between education, research, industry, entrepreneurship, public institutions and the needs of society.
Expanding enrolment, improving connectivity and awarding qualifications are important achievements. But their ultimate value also lies in the opportunities they create.
Are learners acquiring the capabilities to solve real problems? Are graduates finding meaningful employment or creating enterprises? Is African research addressing the continent’s priorities? Are technological advances improving healthcare, agriculture, public services and economic productivity?
And, critically, are these advances creating opportunities beyond individual success stories, benefiting communities and societies more widely?
Strengthening Africa’s role in knowledge and technology production
Across the continent, researchers, entrepreneurs, educators and developers are creating digital platforms, educational content, scientific innovations and technologies that respond to African realities.
Strengthening these activities and their capacity to generate economic value is fundamental to building competitive and resilient knowledge economies. This means supporting African research, developing locally relevant technologies and educational content, investing in African languages and cultural knowledge, and creating conditions in which home-grown enterprises can flourish.
Artificial intelligence makes these questions particularly urgent. As AI becomes embedded in education, business and public administration, whose data, languages, knowledge and priorities will shape the systems African societies use?
How can African institutions and innovators strengthen their role in developing and adapting these technologies, rather than relying predominantly on systems designed elsewhere?
The answers will have consequences not only for economic competitiveness, but also for cultural identity, institutional independence and Africa’s ability to determine how technology serves its people.
Building the institutions that make knowledge work
Individual talent and innovation cannot flourish in isolation. Strong education systems, effective public institutions, reliable infrastructure, access to finance and policies that encourage enterprise all influence whether knowledge can be turned into wider prosperity.
Digital transformation must therefore mean more than introducing new technologies. Its importance lies in the capabilities it enables, the institutions it strengthens and the improvements it brings to people’s lives.
This requires moving beyond isolated pilot projects towards sustainable systems that can deliver at scale.
Teachers need professional development and support. Universities need stronger connections with employers, industry and research networks. Entrepreneurs need access to markets and investment. Governments need reliable evidence and the institutional capacity to implement effective policies.
Equally important is recognising the diverse ways knowledge is created and applied, including through vocational education, informal enterprise, traditional expertise, community innovation and lifelong learning.
The objective is not simply to build a larger pool of highly educated people, but to foster societies in which knowledge and capability can flourish, be applied productively and contribute to the common good.
Africa’s Knowledge Power: From Human Capital to Shared Prosperity
These questions lie at the heart of eLearning Africa 2027, taking place in Lomé, Togo, from 26–28 May 2027.
Under the theme Africa’s Knowledge Power: From Human Capital to Shared Prosperity, the conference will bring together perspectives from education, technology, research, enterprise and government to explore how knowledge can generate economic and social value, and how its benefits can reach people and communities across the continent.
Discussions will span foundational learning, digital inclusion and skills development, as well as scientific research, entrepreneurship, AI, institutional transformation and innovation across different sectors of society.
They will examine how African research and ingenuity can contribute to economic and social progress, how locally developed technologies and solutions can be supported and expanded, and how advances in education can create meaningful employment and improve people’s lives.
As eLearning Africa prepares to mark its 20th edition, the conference will build on two decades of dialogue and collaboration, bringing fresh perspectives to the relationship between knowledge, opportunity and Africa’s economic future.
The challenge is not simply to equip Africa’s people with the knowledge and skills to participate in an increasingly competitive global economy. It is to create the conditions in which they can shape that economy and generate value on their own terms.
Africa has no shortage of knowledge, talent or ambition. The challenge, and the opportunity, is to translate these strengths into lasting economic opportunity and shared prosperity across the continent.
