BID TO TRANSFORM EA INTO KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY

Two regional bodies have partnered in a bid to transform the East African region into a knowledge-based economy.

The effort would be largely spearheaded through promotion of  higher education and industrial growth in the East African Community (EAC) and Africa in general.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the effect was signed in Nairobi yesterday between the East African Business Council (EABC) and Africa Higher Education Research Institute (Aheri)

"This partnership is set to transform East Africa into a knowledge-based economy", said the EABC executive director John Bosco Kalisa.

A knowledge-based economy is an economic system in which the production of goods and services is based principally on knowledge-intensive activities.

These have to contribute to advancement in technical and scientific innovation with greater dependence on the human capital and intellectual property.

A knowledge economy features a highly skilled workforce within the microeconomic and macroeconomic settings. These, in turn, create jobs that demand specialized skills.

Mr. Kalisa said to achieve the goal, the EAC region must change, noting that trade in goods must be expedited by the free movement of persons and services.

According to him, the services sector contributes 51 percent of EAC's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Currently the bloc has seven member countries.

In accordance with the EAC Common Market Protocol,  which came into force in July 2010, seven key services sectors have been liberalized.

These are business services,communication services, distribution services, education services, financial services, transport and tourism and travel-related services.

Mr. Kalisa said the MoU is hinged on collaboration in research to boost East Africa's productive capacity, competitiveness and innovation of new products and services "that meet continental and global market requirements".

Robert Owino, Aheri executive director said harmonization of the education system and research in Africa was key in the actualization of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

He called on African countries to allocate at least four percent of their GDPs to research and development from the current level of only 0.4 percent.

He stated that his organization and the EABC have partnered to advocate for appropriate legislation on intellectual property rights.

This, he pointed out, would address skills mismatch "in order to enhance academia and industry collaboration in East Africa and the continent".

He noted that with the advancement of technology youth have the opportunity to access online consultancy works such as computer programming and export their skills globally.

 

Mr. Barrack Otieno, Aheri director of ICT, expounded that prominent leaders and intellectuals in EA pursued education from academic institutions under a common system during the former EAC.

Pre-independence era Makerere University College was the only higher education institution in the region serving students from Kenya, the then Tanganyika, and Zanzibar in East Africa.

He noted that Aheri, a Kisumu-based intellectual think tank and EABC, an  apex body of private sector associations in the region based in Arusha, are set to turn ideas into action.

 

The two parties will collaborate on joint research projects, conferences, resource mobilization and development of the education sector including technological and professional education and research.