It's pretty clear from the statistics that there is a huge youth demographic bulge on the continent of Africa. 40% of its population is aged 15 or younger (as of 2021). The population of young people aged 15-24 in Africa is projected to reach 500 million in 2080. But as Prof. Kingsley Moghalu from the African School of Governance said at Harvard University’s African Development Conference in April last year, there is no guarantee that this will lead to positive outcomes for individual young people, countries or the continent as a whole. In order to enable all these amazing possibilities education is going to be a key factor in these emerging possibilities and scenarios.

There are few researchers, communicators or advocates of education across Africa more brilliant or well-placed than my guest this week to speak to these questions.

Dr. Modupe (Mo) Olateju is a fellow with the Center for Universal Education in the Global Economy and Development program at Brookings Institution. She is an international development specialist with expertise in public-private partnership in education with additional research interests in education innovation and foundational learning. She established The Education Partnership (TEP) Centre and led the organization’s pioneering work in applied education research in Nigeria and across Africa for 10 years. She is also Board Chair at the Malala Fund and member of the Executive Board at Fab AI.

Links to Mo's work:

https://moolateju.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mo-adefeso-olateju/

https://www.brookings.edu/people/modupe-mo-olateju/

https://tepcentre.com/

Ref. Africa By 2040: The Future of Africa’s Youth. Keynote Address by Professor Kingsley Moghalu President, African School of Governance. Harvard University’s African Development Conference 2025, 12 April 2025. https://asg.ac/africa-by-2040-the-future-of-africas-youth/

Learning What Matters, System Transformation in Africa - A Conversation with Dr Modupe (Mo) Olateju

Future Learning Design Podcast