Bank Group vision

The Bank began to finance social sector activities in 1975. In 1986, the Bank adopted its first education policy in response to a host of concerns ranging from educational access, equity, quality and relevance to internal and external efficiency, educational management, organization and planning, costs and financing. In 1999, a revised Education Sector Policy targeted five areas:

• Access and equity;
• Teaching;
• Ministry of education management and planning capacities, including data collection and analysis to inform decisions;
• Decentralization, and
• Educationalfinancial mechanisms.

The Higher Education, Science and Technology (HEST) strategy was designed to assist member countries to strengthen their educational systems, particularly tertiary education, science, technology, technical and vocational education as well as training.

Given the years of neglect of the tertiary sector and the impossibility of supporting construction and rehabilitation Africa-wide, the Bank focuses on centers of excellence and networks of small national institutions by using distance-learning modalities. HEST focuses on three major areas: supporting centers of excellence; ensuring infrastructure and training in specific areas  agriculture and livestock, health sciences and health delivery support services, engineering, business enterprise, training teachers and educational management  and strengthening links with the labor market so that trained students can use their knowledge and skills productively. The new HEST strategy complements the 1999 Education Sector Policy which promotes growth in Africa and builds the critical mass of skills necessary to increase its economic competitiveness.