The education sector in Zambia is faced with numerous challenges including low enrolment rates, high dropout rates, shortage of qualified teachers, poor infrastructure and inadequate funding. The government has made efforts to improve access to education and quality of education by implementing several policies which include the introduction of the free education up until grade 12 at all public day schools. The government also introduced the Teacher Education and Professional Development (TEPD) program to improve quality of teacher training and professional development in the country.

Addressing the challenges faced by the education sector is crucial to the development of the economy as it would help to increase human capital, an important factor in driving economic growth and development. It would also help reduce poverty, increase health and well-being, and promote gender equality. The government plans to increase spending on Education from ZMW 18 Bn in 2022 (10.4% of total government expenditure) to ZMW 23 Bn (13.9% of total government expenditure) in 2023.

Despite this increase in education spending by the government, the sector remains inadequately funded, presenting an opportunity to local and foreign investors to take advantage of the country’s young population and underfunded nature of the sector to achieve sustainable value and returns. At Red Black Ventures, we keep a close eye on developments, gather data, and work with organizations to help drive the growth the education sector.