Knowledge empowers Africa: The benefits of increased investment in education

The document presents a positive scenario for Africa based on the education development rates of the continent's most successful countries. If these rates were applied universally, Africa would achieve universal primary education by 2030 and universal basic education by 2035. By 2050, this trajectory would result in 85% upper-secondary enrolment, a reduction of 3.5 million malnourished children, a decrease of 60 million people living on less than US$ 1.25 per day, and a nearly 8% reduction in the chance of state failure. Economically, this would add US$ 2.5 trillion to Africa's GDP by 2050, exceeding the cumulative cost of education spending by more than five times.

• Applying the development rates of best-practice African countries to the entire continent would lead to universal primary education by 2030 and universal basic education by 2035, with upper-secondary enrolment reaching 85 per cent by 2050.
• The adoption of these aggressive education development rates would significantly improve human development and stability by 2050, reducing the number of malnourished children by 3.5 million, the number of people living on less than US$ 1.25 per day by 60 million, and the probability of state failure by nearly 8 per cent.
• Increased investment in education following best-practice rates would add US$ 2.5 trillion to Africa's GDP through 2050, a figure that is more than five times the cumulative increase in education spending for that period.

APA

Gehring, K., Irfan, M. T., McLennan, P., Moyer, J. D., Selebalo, H., & Torkelson, E. (n.d.). Knowledge empowers Africa: The benefits of increased investment in education. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/knowledge-empowers-africa-the-benefits-of-increased-investment-in-education

Chicago

Gehring, Keith, Mohammod T Irfan, Patrick McLennan, Jonathan D Moyer, Hopolang Selebalo, and Erin Torkelson. Knowledge empowers Africa: The benefits of increased investment in education. Institute for Security Studies, n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/knowledge-empowers-africa-the-benefits-of-increased-investment-in-education.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Gehring |first1=Keith |last2=Irfan |first2=Mohammod T |last3=McLennan |first3=Patrick |last4=Moyer |first4=Jonathan D |last5=Selebalo |first5=Hopolang |last6=Torkelson |first6=Erin |title=Knowledge empowers Africa: The benefits of increased investment in education |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |url=https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/knowledge-empowers-africa-the-benefits-of-increased-investment-in-education |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{gehringndknowledge, author = {Gehring, Keith and Irfan, Mohammod T and McLennan, Patrick and Moyer, Jonathan D and Selebalo, Hopolang and Torkelson, Erin}, title = {{Knowledge empowers Africa: The benefits of increased investment in education}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/policy-brief/knowledge-empowers-africa-the-benefits-of-increased-investment-in-education}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }