Africa’s Economic Renewal: The GetBundi Direction

The last three decades have seen Sub-Saharan Africa lag behind all other continents in terms of economic growth. Africa’s abysmal performance stands in contrast to the experience of the developing and developed world, especially the Asian continent where there has been rapid growth.

The current state of Africa’s economy is not impressive because the continent is plagued with a high rate of underdevelopment and lack of innovation, which is majorly due to the lack of STEM Education in the region.

Although Africa holds nearly 17% of the world's population, its Science, Technology, Engineering & Math (STEM) capabilities fall behind the rest of the world.

Over the past several decades, STEM education has been proven to be a determinant of a country’s economic development. Countries that have invested in STEM education have continued to experience global prominence, a case study of the United States.

While European countries have dedicated a lot of resources to STEM education, African countries have allotted little or no funding, thus increasing the gap between Africa and other countries in economic development.

Many opportunities exist to enhance and accelerate economic progress in Africa, from technology to Agriculture and Education. However, one major way to achieve Africa’s economic growth is through a concerted effort to promote STEM education that can produce young professionals that can take charge of the development of the region’s economy.

Therefore, in its agenda for Africa’s economic renewal, GetBundi, a government-approved educational technology platform has identified that STEM education is what is needed in Africa to engineer the continent’s economic recovery in the coming years.

The EdTech platform is currently on a mission to renew Africa’s economy through quality, engaging, and accessible STEM skills which will no doubt transform the African economy.

It has been stated that Africa has immense potential to transform its economy and that of the world, and STEM education has been described as the key factor to play a huge role. 

In this regard, GetBundi understands that STEM education is key to Africa’s economic renewal. The startup has developed STEM courses that will equip African youths with the right skills, to ensure that they do not play catch up with the rest of the world.

The startup’s goal is to make quality STEM learning in Africa a reality and to make it available to individuals in different regions of the African continent at a very affordable price.

GetBundi understands that STEM-based secondary education which is accessible to all, will no doubt equip the youths in Africa to be innovative, which will spur economic transformation, thereby unlocking a virtuous cycle of both human and economic development.

The EdTech startup was created out of a sheer understanding that only countries with STEM-enabled citizenry can achieve meaningful development, as STEM learning encourages innovation, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving skills, etc needed in the 21st-century world. 

It currently hosts over 1,008 hours of Audio-visual content, covering six years of secondary school using the West African curriculum and covering subjects such as ICT, Physics, Mathematics, English Language, Data Processing, and Chemistry.

GetBundi has projected that it would support upskilling 10 million Africans in the next 10 years through STEM and STI digital skills acquisition via a strategy tagged “The GetBundi Vision 2033”. The platform is also a resource that provides significant tools for the African Union to achieve its agenda for 2063. 

Conclusion

Africa has the potential to compete with some of the world's global economies, but can only be achievable if it invests in STEM education for young people.

It is very glaring that STEM education is very important for Africa, as it has the potential to support innovation, increase access to services across the continent and generate economic growth.

Reports reveal that Africa has the largest youth population in the world, which is why the continent must build the skills and expertise to drive competitiveness in the future.

Also, through GetBundi STEM skills offering, it will impact the continent to renew Africa’s deplorable economy for exponential growth.

There is no doubt that improving the state of STEM Education is highly complex and requires collaboration, hence the need for governments in the African continent to collaborate with private sectors to make STEM a top priority.

By producing highly qualified graduates, Africa can use its growing population of young people to improve the region’s economic development.