One of the key debates in Uganda today revolves around President Yoweri Museveni’s outlook on Pan-Africanism and development strategy. While I disagree with him on certain fronts—particularly his tendency to frame Pan-Africanism too narrowly at the regional level, such as within the East African Community—there is one area where I strongly agree with his emphasis: education, particularly in science and technology.
The President has consistently argued that Uganda must prioritize the training of scientists, engineers, medical professionals, and technologists, and that the teachers of these fields should be compensated more highly than others. Opposition groups have often criticized this position, but in this case, their critique misses the point.
Uganda has already reached a literacy rate of around 75%, which is a significant achievement. At this stage, the challenge is not merely increasing the quantity of educated citizens—it is improving the quality of education and producing a workforce that can drive genuine transformation.
On the global stage, countries are not competing on the basis of how many citizens can read and write; they are competing on how many engineers, innovators, and technical experts they can produce. The rise of China is a clear example. Its global industrial and technological dominance rests not simply on mass education, but on its ability to produce hundreds of thousands of engineers and scientists annually. Major companies thrive because they can draw on a deep pool of highly trained engineers and researchers.
This is why I agree with Museveni’s insistence that Uganda should reward and prioritize the training of technical professionals. For Africa, literacy rates above 70% already provide a sufficient base of “quantity.” The next critical step is to cultivate quality—to improve curricula, invest in research, and encourage innovation that can power industrialization and global competitiveness.
Unfortunately, many opposition leaders across Africa fail to grasp this nuance. They continue to treat education as a numbers game, focusing on expanding access without equal attention to the depth, specialization, and applicability of that education to Africa’s industrial future.
If Africa is to rise, it must shift its focus from producing citizens who are merely literate, to producing problem-solvers, innovators, and industrial leaders who can create the jobs, technologies, and industries that will sustain the continent’s transformation.
Policy Recommendations: Building Africa’s Education-Industrial Future
- Prioritize Science and Engineering Education
- Triple investment in engineering, science, and medical schools.
- Provide higher salaries and incentives for teachers in these disciplines to attract and retain top talent.
- Link Universities to Industry
- Establish strong partnerships between universities and local industries to ensure graduates have hands-on experience.
- Create innovation hubs where students and companies can collaborate on real-world projects.
- Quality Over Quantity in Higher Education
- Shift national targets from enrollment rates to innovation output, such as patents, prototypes, and industrial solutions.
- Introduce rigorous quality benchmarks for technical institutions.
- Pan-African Technical Exchange
- Launch a Pan-African Engineering Exchange Program to train African scientists and engineers across the continent, pooling resources rather than duplicating efforts.
- Government and Private Sector Alignment
- Incentivize private companies that fund research and recruit graduates from technical fields.
- Use tax breaks and subsidies to encourage investment in industries that absorb local engineers and scientists.
- Make Education a Driver of Industrial Policy
- Every education plan must be tied directly to industrialization goals—from energy and transport to ICT and manufacturing.
- Education policy should be treated as part of Africa’s industrial masterplan, not as a separate social service.
Conclusion
Africa’s future depends not just on having educated citizens, but on producing the right kind of education that powers industrialization and global competitiveness. The era of counting literacy rates must give way to an era of engineering Africa’s transformation.
If Uganda and other African nations invest boldly in technical education, innovation, and Pan-African collaboration, they will not merely catch up with the world—they will help shape the next industrial revolution.
