Don: Why African Nations Rank Low in Global Economy

Ademola Babalola in Ibadan

Inadequate funding for researches in African universities will continue to take its toll on African economies, a leading African development economist and Vice Chancellor of University of Ghana, Legon, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, has said.

He was of the view that for Nigeria and Africa in general to enjoy globally competitive economies, more money must be pumped into African universities for research to bail the continent out of poverty, want and deprivation being faced by its citizens and general underdevelopment afflicting its growth as black nations of the world.

Aryeetey, who also noted that low investment in research-focused universities accounts for why many African universities are lowly ranked and cannot be globally competitive, said there was room for improvement if African leaders can invest wisely in researches to be a force to reckon with.

According to the seasoned economist, Africa must develop research universities that will help in providing sound knowledge economy for its transformation and positive change.

Professor Aryeetey made the disclosure while delivering the 67th Interdisciplinary Discourse of the Postgraduate School, University of Ibadan under the Deanship of Professor Adeyinka Aderinto.

Speaking on the topic “Developing Research Universities for Africa: Some New Approaches”, Professor Aryeetey noted that universities must specialize either in teaching or doing researches noting that not all universities should be combining both teaching and researching.

Further details later