Educazione delle bambine: un fattore di sviluppo chiave per rimodellare l'economia africana

Africa has always been the focus of discussion when it comes to underdevelopment. The growth in the African continent is not rapid as that of the other part of the world because it does not possess the capital and human resources strong and viable enough to put Africa on the pedestal of growth. If growth must take place in any economy, it must give attention to human capital development basically in terms of education and health. According to Stiglitz 2016, if one wants to identify the source of the wealth of nations—and what developing countries can do to increase their standards of living, it must seek ‘ENLIGHTENMENT’. It is not bad enough that Africa’s educational system is not tailored to standard and growth oriented but worse for the fact that it is gender biased. Though what is now is far different from what was decades ago in terms of the number of girl child that is allowed to attend schools (girl child enrolment) but it is still a far cry compared to what gives in the developed economy. Research has it that agricultural system in Sub-Sahara Africa is predominantly small-scale farming with more than 50% of the agricultural activity performed by women, producing 60-70% of the food in the region (Gawaya 2008). Imagine this much number of women/girl child is allow access to education, first it will ensure growth in their domestic homes leading to a well-informed society that is geared towards growth and this will permeate through the entire continent. If education is a key towards economic growth and nation building then girl child education is even more pivotal in achieving this especially in Africa. The purpose of this research is to understand the role of the girl child in economic development especially when she is allowed access to education. Africa has given less than enough attention to this fact and it is the purpose of this paper to focus a searchlight on the importance of girl child education on economic growth and development. Keyword: Girl child Education, Economic growth and development