Alice HAMER Director, Social Development ADEA 2006 Biennale 27-31 March 2006, Libreville, Gabon

1. African Development Bank Group INVESTING IN LITERACY IN AFRICA Alice HAMER Director, Social Development ADEA 2006 Biennale 27-31 March 2006, Libreville, Gabon

2. African Development Bank Group INVESTING IN LITERACY IN AFRICA • Introduction • Literacy and Development • The Return of the Investment in Literacy • The Costs • The Return • Impediments to Investing in Literacy • Conclusion

3. African Development Bank Group INTRODUCTION • Worldwide recognition of the contribution of literacy in development • In developing countries, Africa in particular, the role of literacy in development is greater • Governments and development partners have, therefore, increased funding of literacy programs; resulting in significant progress in literacy • However, few studies have focused on the links between investing in literacy and the returns, in particular the economic returns • This presentation will attempt to bridge the gap

4. African Development Bank Group LITERACY AND DEVELOPMENT • Transformation of sectors, in particular agriculture • Sustaining health systems and reducing the costs of health provision, including the reduction of pandemic diseases (HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, Malaria, etc.) • Increased employment opportunities • Increased democratization, good governance and citizenry

5. African Development Bank Group LITERACY AND DEVELOPMENT(cont.) • Support to the education of children, especially when the mother is literate • Integration of African countries in the world economy requiring competitiveness of their products, which demands a literate work force • In summary, literacy provides individuals with the means to take charge of their destiny and contribute to sustainable development

6. African Development Bank Group THE INVESTMENT IN LITERACY: THE COSTS • Low per learner costs (average of 140$) as compared to the cost of formal schooling (average of 300$ for 4 years of schooling) • Low costs of literacy materials • Low costs of training of trainers • Versatility of places of learning (classroom to under a tree), which contributes to reducing costs • Literacy can be increased at lower cost by taking advantage of existing infrastructures, including school infrastructures

7. African Development Bank Group THE INVESTMENT IN LITERACY: THE RETURNS • Formal schooling: minimum 12 to 15 years for individuals to be productive • For literate youths and adults, the time frame for productivity is 12 to 15 months • Limited “income foregone” for the learner (learner can continue earning revenue while he/she learns • More literate citizens implies more diversified economy and increased purchasing power, which leads to a strengthened economy • Literacy contributes to private sector development and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI)

8. African Development Bank Group THE IMPEDIMENTS TO INVESTING IN LITERACY • Lack of inclusion of literacy in the countries PRSPs • Limited full integration of literacy in countries education plans: literacy still perceived in some cases as parallel learning for the poor • Limited or no private sector involvement in literacy • Limited understanding of the significant contribution of literacy in development

9. African Development Bank Group CONCLUSION • Progress is being made in literacy in Africa, although the needs are still high and call for more investment • The issue is no longer one of demonstrating the relevance or importance of literacy in development but rather in exploring ways of increasing investment. • For many funding institutions, the PRSPs are the framework for identifying priorities for investments. It would help if African governments include literacy as a priority in their PRSPs. • To maximize on investments, governments should also create an enabling environments (media, books, etc) for sustained post literacy and life-long learning.

10. African Development Bank Group THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION