Introduction
Studies indicate that higher education is very critical for the development of every country. This is the case because higher education enables individuals to unleash their potential for discovering new innovation for social, political and economic development. Although this is the case, the higher education sector faces multiple challenges that requires collective and multiple solutions. One of the major challenges that the sector faces is that it is underfunded and deprived of the resources.
It is against this background that the Higher Education Students’ Loans and Grants Board (HESLGB) decided to host the first Association for African Higher Education Financing Agencies (AAHEFA) international conference on higher education financing. The conference was held from 24th to 26th September 2018 at the Bingu International Conference Centre (BICC) under the theme “Innovatively Financing Higher Education for the jobs of tomorrow”.
AAHEFA
AAHEFA is an entity that was formed in 2008 with the aim of bringing together African institutions which deals with financing of higher education through issuance of loans, bursaries/grants and scholarship as well as collecting back the issued loans. The main objective for establishing this entity was to serve as the apex organization and principal forum for sharing of information and experiences on common matters and to increase students’ access to higher education within and outside Africa.
AAHEFA was formed with initial Membership of three agencies namely; Higher Education Students’ Loans Board-Tanzania, Higher Education Loans Board Kenya and Students Financing Agency for Rwanda (currently known as Higher Education Students Loans Department).
Over the years, AAHEFA has gained credibility and its current membership include; (i) Higher Education Loans Board-Kenya, (ii) Higher Education Students’ Loans Board-Tanzania, (iii) Students Loan Trust Fund-Ghana, (iv) Higher Education Students’ Financing Board-Uganda, (v) Human Resource Development Council (HRDC)-Botswana, (vi) National Student Financial Aid Scheme-South Africa, (vii) National Manpower Development Secretariat-Lesotho, (viii) Namibia Students’ Financial Assistance Fund-Namibia, (ix) Development Bank of Rwanda, (x) Higher Education Loans Scholarship Board- Zambia, and (xi) HESLGB-Malawi.
AAHEFA Conference
The conference brought together researchers, university/college administrators policy makers, entrepreneurs, innovators, students, financing agencies, and government officials from Malawi, Zambia, Tanzania, Botswana, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa, Malaysia, Lesotho, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Namibia. During the conference delegates exchanged ideas, experiences, opinions and research results relating to the financing of higher education with the aim of consolidating ideas and solutions for improving the higher education financing sector in Africa. Specifically the conference centered on the following;
- Developing and implementing sustainable solutions meant to improve student financial aid system across Africa.
- Sharing experience and innovative approaches meant to expand alternative funding for higher education loan agencies and universities.
- Sharing best practices in the management, disbursement and recovery of student loans.
- Discussing the challenges of higher education financing in Africa.
- Discussing innovative ways to strengthen partnerships, collaborations and strategic alliances in addressing challenges facing higher education financing.
Conclusion
As far as development is concerned, the higher education sector is one of the critical sectors. It is a sector that requires a lot of investments because it is the most costly level of education. Unfortunately, the sector is underfunded and deprived of the resources. The conference, therefore, was an excellent forum for researchers, policy makers, entrepreneurs, innovators, students, financing agencies, and government officials to come up with collective and multiple solutions for improving higher education financing in Africa. It is hoped that the ideas and experiences that were shared during the conference will go a long way in addressing various challenges which are faced by Higher Education Financing Agencies, Governments, Universities/colleges and students.
For feedback contact;
The Executive Director
Higher Education Students Loans and Grants Board
P/Bag B417
Lilongwe 3.
Email–chris.chisoni@heslgb.com; loans.recovery@heslgb.com
Phones: 01 795 979/955