This study sets out to identify digitalization’s potential to improve access to and the quality of tertiary education in sub-Saharan Africa. It does so, first, by measuring the quality of education, the magnitude of existing barriers to education, and the state (read: progress towards full) of digitalization. It then identifies and assesses the feasibility and potential impact of a series potential interventions – all of them geared towards improving digital skills & demand for digital education, access to computing devices, and access to internet & electricity in the region.

There are significant opportunities associated with the rollout of digital education in sub-Saharan Africa. As the number of sub-Saharan Africans rounding off secondary school is set to increase substantially in the coming years, so, too, is the region’s demand for high-quality tertiary education. African universities have a 50% higher student-teacher ratio than the global average, something which had already contributed to approximately 375,000 – more than double of 1997’s 156,000 – opting to pursue their studies overseas as early as 2017. The challenges associated with educators’ (lack of) institutional capacity are compounded by the region’s cost and environment-related hurdles. A staggering 38% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population lived on less than $1.90 a day as recently as 2018, meaning they do not have the means of commuting to metropolitan areas or of paying for any of the ever-increasing numbers of privately organized educations that are on offer. Environmental factors mean that many miss out on, at the very least, parts of their tertiary educations. These include gender inequality, the stigmas (and shame) associated with disease and, in many sub-Saharan African countries, the uncertainty brought on by widespread conflict and political instability. These factors have a negative impact on the future economic competiveness of sub-Saharan countries.