The Foreign Service Journal, September 2022

42 SEPTEMBER 2022 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL T he United States should embed higher education mechanisms and exchanges into existing and new frameworks. First, the United States should aggressively expand support to African institutions employing U.S. models of higher educa- tion. Higher education institutions that use U.S. models provide a liberal education that is more prone to promoting critical thinking skills and freedom of thought while also focusing on individual career development. At a strategic level, these institutions espouse the values of democracy and transparency—values that the future generation of African leaders will benefit from embracing. Second, the United States should embed American-based degree study programs into all aspects of foreign support projects. This would necessitate apportioning a percentage of overseas development investment toward education. For example, USAID’s flagship initiative Power Africa brings together technical experts with private entities and governments from around the world to address the severe lack of access to electricity in many regions of Africa (see “Energy Diplomacy Works” by Andrew Herscowitz, March 2020 FSJ ). Power Africa’s record of success continues, as Work is ongoing on the Solar-Plus-Storage power project in Malawi. The 20-megawatt project is the first of its scale there to employ a large-scale battery storage system that allows the plant to provide reliable, renewable energy to the national power grid. USAID seen in the recent production of clean solar energy in Malawi or the first utility-scale wind farm to add renewable electricity to Senegal’s power grid. The integration of higher education requires setting aside funding within each project to invest in human capital development. For example, the planned 343-kilometer transmission line in Angola, which is projected to integrate regional grids into a national grid, would also send Angolan operators to the United States for electrical engineer- ing degrees. Finally, the United States should embrace a program for new and previously existing partnerships between American community colleges and African vocational schools. This is a vital step in lay- ing a strong foundation for future American-African relations. The African youth who participate in study abroad programs at U.S. community and technical colleges represent future leaders back home. Benefits from these programs are numerous and include improved employment rates and acquisition of entrepreneurial skills. At the strategic level, this will assist in spreading the liberal American model of schools. It is time to make higher education a core tenet of any approach to partnering with African countries. At a fundamen- tal level, these exchanges engender trust between the United States and the recipient country. Trust is a critical commodity and one that the United States struggles to find with many Afri- can countries. Much like European powers, the United States has a legitimacy problem that stems from being a Western power associated with a history of colonialism and slave trade. This dynamic helps tilt the scales favorably toward America’s rivals in strategic competition. Higher education opportunities facilitate building a foundation of trust, mutual understanding and shared values. The United States must commit to expanding its investment in human capital and embrace the new scramble for Africa. n