PhD holders in Africa must not be intimidated by rhetoric

By Bryan Bwana

A doctorate is not a ceremonial ornament. It is society’s investment in the capacity to interrogate complex challenges and deliver practical solutions. Yet across Africa, the title “PhD” is too often trivialised or drowned in rhetoric—whether in historical debates, political noise, or abstract intellectualism.

Yes, history matters. Memory shapes identity, and lessons from the past must guide us. But history must never paralyse present action. While African universities often remain absorbed in theoretical discussions, institutions elsewhere are powering national strategies.

In Germany, universities direct their research to hydrogen technology, advanced manufacturing, and energy storage. In China, Tsinghua and Shanghai Jiao Tong universities are not debating—they are solving—advancing transport systems, renewable energy, and digital platforms that underpin China’s global rise. Their PhDs are engines of applied innovation, not performers of academic ceremony.

Prevailing conditions must direct our research

Africa’s needs are urgent, not abstract. They do not require endless rhetoric; they require innovation. Consider just a few of our most pressing realities:

• Affordable energy to power homes, schools, and industries

• Resilient infrastructure and housing that withstand climate extremes

• Clean water and sanitation systems to prevent disease and restore dignity

• Food security in the face of climate shocks and land degradation.

These are not distant aspirations. They are the daily struggles of millions. A PhD in engineering, agriculture, medicine, or technology cannot afford to orbit around theoretical debates while communities thirst, starve, or live in fragile shelters - a civil engineering doctorate in Uganda pioneering eco-friendly, low-cost housing materials derived from local resources; a mechanical engineering scholar in Nigeria designing modular solar mini-grids that bring light and power to off-grid villages; an agricultural PhD in Kenya developing drought-resistant seed systems that feed farmers through erratic rain patterns.

These are not dreams. They are within reach—if Africa’s scholars ground their research in the conditions of their societies.

Lessons from global peers

Across the world, PhD holders drive industries and economies.

In Germany, the Fraunhofer Institutes connect doctoral research directly to industry. Every project must have a commercial or societal application. The result? German universities are consistent engines of innovation, producing technologies that feed into the automotive, renewable energy, and manufacturing sectors.

In China, universities do not just produce dissertations; they produce companies. Tsinghua alumni have founded tech giants, designed high-speed trains, and exported solar energy technologies worldwide. Doctoral research flows seamlessly into patents, start-ups, and global markets.

And Africa? Too often, dissertations gather dust in library shelves—never commercialised, never applied, never benefiting society. This is not merely a missed opportunity; it is a betrayal of the public trust that invested in these scholars.

A doctorate is not simply a credential. It is a moral duty. Holders of such degrees must rise above intimidation, rhetoric, and intellectual elitism. They must lead practically.

Society rightly expects African PhD holders to:

1. Frame problems in solvable terms. Instead of endlessly debating “development theory,” doctoral scholars must identify practical entry points: how to make housing affordable, how to design scalable sanitation systems, how to store solar energy cheaply.

2. Translate research into usable technologies. Each PhD thesis should end not only with conclusions but with prototypes, patents, or partnerships ready for deployment.

3. Inspire the next generation. Young Africans must see scholars not as abstract debaters, but as courageous problem-solvers whose work transforms daily life.

Anything less diminishes the very meaning of advanced scholarship.

Sustainability as our lens

The future belongs to sustainable solutions. Europe and China profit from universities because they anchor their innovation in sustainability—renewable energy, efficient cities, resource-smart agriculture, and climate-adapted technologies.

For Africa, sustainability is not a buzzword. It is survival. With rapid population growth, fragile ecosystems, and climate volatility, sustainable innovation is both a necessity and an economic opportunity.

A colleague once shared with me his fear that Africa is producing too many “mere academicians” and too few scholar-leaders. His warning is apt. A PhD is not a license to retreat into rhetoric, nor is it a ticket to political appointment. It is a call to bold, visionary problem-solving.

African scholars must not be intimidated by rhetorical traditions or intellectual posturing. They must not shrink before the enormity of our challenges. Instead, they must stand as leaders whose laboratories, field trials, and start-ups offer tangible hope.

Europe and China have shown us that universities can anchor national economies and solve public needs. Africa must now demonstrate to the world that our PhD holders—especially in engineering, agriculture, and applied sciences—are not timid voices but courageous innovators.

We must turn dusty dissertations into thriving enterprises. We must turn academic titles into engines of industrial progress. We must turn rhetoric into solutions.

If Apple, humiliated in 1997, could reinvent itself into a $3 trillion company, then Africa’s universities that are rich with unique, indigenous knowledge, talent, and resilience surely can reinvent into engines of sustainable prosperity.

But for that to happen, Africa’s PhD holders must embrace their true duty of solving, innovating and leading.

Bryan Toshi Bwana is a Founding Trustee, Umoja Conservation Trust. www.umojaconservation.org