Southern Africa must strengthen its own knowledge, skills and research capabilities if the region is to achieve meaningful industrialisation, Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela has said.
Manamela warned that the Southern African Development Community (SADC) cannot achieve economic transformation if countries continue exporting raw materials while importing the technology, knowledge and finished products that generate the most value.
The Minister was speaking at the SADC Vice Chancellors’ Meeting at Wits Business School in Johannesburg on Monday.
He said universities across SADC have an important role to play in developing the skills and knowledge required to drive industrialisation, innovation and economic growth in the region.
“A region cannot industrialise on borrowed knowledge,” Manamela said, warning that SADC countries risked remaining consumers of technologies and knowledge developed elsewhere while exporting raw materials.
He said the industrialisation agenda adopted by SADC Heads of State and Government requires countries in the region to strengthen their capabilities in engineering, science, technology, research and innovation.
“Human capability is part of that infrastructure.”
Universities Key To SADC Industrialisation
Manamela said major infrastructure projects cannot deliver economic transformation without skilled people to design, operate and improve them.
Roads, railways, ports, energy systems and digital networks all require engineers, scientists, technicians, academics, entrepreneurs, health professionals, teachers, public servants and artisans.
“They require institutions capable not only of transmitting knowledge, but of producing the knowledge that allows the region to make its own choices. Universities are therefore not observers of regional integration. They are part of its infrastructure,” Manamela said.
The Minister said universities must therefore go beyond simply teaching existing knowledge. They should also contribute to research, innovation and the development of solutions that respond to the region's economic and social challenges.
SADC Students Face Barriers Across Borders
Manamela said regional integration remains incomplete while students, academics and qualifications continue to face barriers when moving between SADC countries.
He highlighted challenges involving credit transfers, recognition of qualifications, researcher mobility and the comparison of qualifications and skills by employers across the region.
“Our systems of learning remain more fragmented than the lives they are meant to serve.,” the Minister said.
The Minister said the SADC Protocol on Education and Training, including the SADC Qualifications Framework, and the proposed Higher Education Strategy provide important foundations for greater cooperation.
However, he cautioned that policies and frameworks must result in practical improvements for students, academics and employers.
He said the regional strategy should identify areas where SADC countries can develop capabilities collectively, reduce unnecessary duplication between institutions and align research with regional industrial value chains.
“By the time SADC Ministers responsible for Education and Training, Science, Technology and Innovation meet in South Africa in June 2027, we should report more than completed documents. We should point to programmes begun, students and academics who have moved, data being shared and research missions producing results,” Manamela said.
Proposed SADC University of Transformation
Manamela also expressed support for the proposed SADC University of Transformation, but said it should not simply become another conventional university with a central headquarters, additional bureaucracy and programmes that duplicate existing institutions.
“The University of Transformation should be a network of regional capability. It should connect universities, Centres of Excellence, TVET institutions, research councils, industry and development partners through shared doctoral schools, research chairs, digital programmes, laboratories, mobility and workplace learning.
“A student could be registered at one institution, access specialist teaching through another, use shared cyberinfrastructure, participate in a regional research project and undertake an industry placement elsewhere in SADC. That is a more intelligent use of regional strength,” the Minister said.
According to Manamela, the credibility of the proposed university will depend on having a clear mandate, strong governance, academic quality, sustainable funding and visible programmes that can demonstrate early results.
He identified several areas that could form part of the institution's focus, including critical-minerals beneficiation, food and water security, climate resilience, the energy transition, public health, digital capability and infrastructure.
AI And Technology Investment Needed
Manamela also called for increased investment in regional computing capacity, trusted datasets, African-language technologies, cybersecurity, scientific infrastructure and intellectual property.
He said these capabilities would become increasingly important as artificial intelligence (AI) transforms economies and workplaces.
“If our universities do not build regional computing capability, trusted datasets, African-language technologies, cybersecurity, scientific infrastructure and intellectual property, we will rent intelligence from others while surrendering value created from our own societies. This is not an argument for isolation [but] an argument for the capacity to participate in the world on more equal terms,” Manamela said.
The Minister also called for greater participation by women in science, engineering and technology.
He said SADC cannot afford to exclude a significant portion of its intellectual and skills potential from sectors that will be central to future economic development.
Five Priorities For SADC Higher Education
Manamela identified five immediate priorities for the SADC Vice Chancellors' Meeting.
These include agreeing on implementation priorities for the SADC Higher Education Strategy, establishing a network model for the proposed University of Transformation and improving the recognition of qualifications, credit transfers and academic mobility.
The priorities also include establishing a regional higher education data system and launching flagship research and skills programmes linked to SADC's industrialisation priorities.
The Minister's call places universities, TVET institutions, research organisations and industry at the centre of efforts to develop the skills, research and innovation capacity needed for SADC's industrialisation and economic transformation.
