Abstract:

Foreign investment can play an imperative role in support of primary education in Africa. This paper is aimed to provide an understanding of the role foreign investment can play in primary education in Africa and to demonstrate the inequalities that persist in the developing countries. The model adopted by Oprah Winfrey at her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG) in South Africa was closely examined in order to establish models that can work in the African context. The research on OWLAG directed us to examine private schools versus public schools in an African context. We present both models in this paper respectively and propose a model for the improvement of primary education in Africa using foreign investment in the form of a leadership academy for primary education in Africa. The academy will focus on learners at grade 0 to 6 and will turn gifted African girls and boys into innovative learners with new thinking. The focus will be on historically disadvantaged families since education is a basic essential service to these families. Apart from the curriculum, this model will create an appetite and curiosity for Information and Communication Technology software in the education sector in Africa using socio-economic investments of various stakeholders as strategic assets. We adopt a business model that will promote alternative revenue streams and the creation of strategic assets.

Keywords:

Foreign investment, primary education, developing countries, and OWLAG.