The Importance of Higher Education in Development: An Africa Focus

Dr. Montague W. Demment has been an influential advocate for developing colleges and universities in growing nations through his role as Vice President of International Programs with the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities. Dr. Demment will illustrate how U.S. institutions of higher education, if partnered with developing-nation colleges and universities, together can strengthen institutions of social mobility, innovation, and economic growth, while establishing critical diplomatic, economic, and political ties with the United States. Africans will represent half of the 2 billion people projected to be added to the planet by 2050. This youth will either be, if well educated, a source of creativity that will lead to economic growth and social cohesion or if not, a source of instability. With targeted investments, U.S. universities can help developing countries reduce poverty, alleviate hunger, grow economies and develop innovative solutions to the world’s most challenging development problems.