Human Capital, Labour Mobility and Implications for Higher Education in Africa

Abstract

Based on a two-country (Nigeria and South Africa) case study, this chapter examines the national policies and practices to promote human capital development and cross-border mobility of labour and their effects on specific and overall quality of educational outcomes. The higher education sector of the African continent has witnessed phenomenal changes over the past century and more significantly so in the last three decades. As the role of the higher education sector in human capital development has been increasingly recognised, policies for internationalisation have become more diffuse and multisectoral, leading to far-reaching contradictions that have adverse consequences for the mobility of prospective students and academics. There is evidence that the production of human capital has faced serious challenges over the years and the World Bank that has been tracking these issues globally is supporting governments to enhance their human capital development efforts. At the same time, Covid-19 has become a major and enduring threat to human capital development. Efforts to sustain and maintain internationalisation and reap its positive benefits are required in order to enhance the contribution of the higher education system to development of human capital and beneficial exchange of knowledge and skills across the continent.

Citation

Obi, A., Olusa, T.O. and Oladapo, A.S. (2022), "Human Capital, Labour Mobility and Implications for Higher Education in Africa", Caputo, A., Lock, D. and Hack-Polay, D. (Ed.) International Environments and Practices of Higher Education, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 75-89. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-80117-590-620221008