Digital hub for Francophone Africa to support reform

The Francophone University Agency (AUF) has launched a new initiative financed by the French Development Agency (AFD) to make Djibouti a recognised regional centre for digital higher learning, training and research to advance the developmental needs of the country and Francophone Africa.

Following the signing of a partnership agreement with the Minister of Higher Education and Research of Djibouti, Nabil Mohamed Ahmed, in October, Professor Slim Khalbous, the rector of the AUF, told University World News the project will support reform of higher education and research in Djibouti and promote the employability of students.

“It is also a pilot project for the development of science in Francophone Africa in times of the coronavirus pandemic, because it offers the education system long-lasting solutions by increasing its capacity to teach and carry out research at a distance, thanks to new technologies,” Khalbous added.

Abdullahi Elmi Mohamed, a researcher at the University of Djibouti and a senior energy and water adviser to the Somali Minister of Energy and Water Resources, told University World News the project paved the way for digital transformation to enhance university access, especially in the post-COVID-19 world, as well as developing the necessary skilled workforce for a digital economy.

Mohamed is the lead author of the 2019 study “The formalization of informal sector entrepreneurship in Djibouti: Another alternative to reduce the unemployment”.

Challenges in Djibouti

Nathalie Bitar, the Middle East project manager of the AUF, told University World News that higher education in Djibouti was facing a challenge to bring employment to a growing number of high school graduates in a rapidly saturated labour market.

“Indeed, due to demographic growth and the extension of compulsory education, the number of general secondary education students has boomed. As a result, the number of students at the University of Djibouti has tripled, going from less than 3,000 students in 2006 to more than 9,000 in 2017,” said Bitar.

But baccalaureate holders, eligible by law to enrol at the University of Djibouti, do not all have the capacity to successfully complete university studies, Bitar added.

“At the same time, the formal labour market remains tight and marked by massive unemployment, at nearly 50%,” she said.

Djibouti’s higher education system consists of only one public institution, the University of Djibouti. In February 2018 a second campus in Balbala was added.

A June 2020 report entitled The reality of scientific research in the Arab world (2008-2018) highlighted weaknesses in the research performance of the higher education system. Djibouti was ranked eighth out of 10 Arab North African states for scientific research productivity with only 118 research studies in 10 years.

E-learning modernised

Khalbous said the AUF project provides for the creation of two large structures: a training centre for digital innovation and technology within the University of Djibouti and a regional simulation centre at the Higher Institute of Health Sciences.

Bitar said the successful implementation of the project would have numerous benefits, including “the modernisation of teaching (e-learning, active teaching) and the successful opening of new training courses in digital professions, where a potential for job creation has been identified”.

The AUF Djibouti national office will be opened in the first half of 2021.

Concerns

Higher education expert Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid, a professor at Cairo’s National Research Centre in Egypt, cautiously welcomed the AUF project.

"Despite the significance of the AUF project as a tool for helping universities in harnessing digitalisation for job creation as well as facilitating learning and teaching in the coronavirus pandemic era, it faces technical challenges including a lack of digital infrastructure and low internet connectivity and affordability in both Djibouti and Africa,” Abdelhamid told University World News.

Abdelhamid's concerns are borne out by statistics which show that, of the 988,000 people in Djibouti, only 548,832 have access to the internet, a penetration rate of 55.5%. In addition, Djibouti is ranked 198th out of 207 countries when it comes to internet speed, and is among the top 30 countries with the world’s most expensive internet.

Also, internet penetration currently averages 35%, well below the global average of 55%, as indicated in a 2019 African Development Bank report.

Affordability is also a concern in Africa where internet access costs US$119 on average each month, compared to the global average of US$73.