African Higher Education in the Era of Bailouts and Stimulus Packages—Good Intentions, Vanishing Resources, and Persistent Gaps (April 2009)

Damtew Teferra, Ph. D.
Director, International Network for Higher Education in Africa; Director for Africa and the Middle East, Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program

Introduction
A decade or so ago, in the Summer 2000 issue of International Higher Education (IHE), under the title “Endowing African Universities–Cultivating Sustainability,” I wrote

The leaders of American higher education institutions anticipate that when the economic frenzy and boom come to an end—they will have expanded their financial base to last them through the difficult times that may lie ahead.

Given that boom and bust are core tenets of the business of economics, such a forecast may not be that surprising, after all. Now the economic frenzy and boom have come to an end, and both those that stashed away some resources for a rainy day and those that did not face the current global financial and economic crisis equally. more...