On 6-10 December 1999 (the eve of the launching of the African Renaissance project) African ministers of education gathered in Johannesburg - South Africa to assess the continent's specific challenges and priorities and chart the way forward to true African Renaissance. At the end of the meeting, a framework for action was adopted. The framework for action was that education is the sine quo non for empowering the people of Africa to participate and benefit in the globalized economy of the 21st century.
The ministers noted that progress in Africa or renaissance of Africa could not be achieved if masses of African people continue to be in languishing in poverty and illiteracy. They urged a concerted effort to promoting integration of education into the family and the community. .
September 2000, saw the largest-ever gathering of world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Development Summit, with some 150 heads of State or government participating. The summit addressed major global challenges such as how to pull over 1 billion people out of extreme poverty, to develop strategies to reduce joblessness among youth and promote social progress and better standards of life through education and training (United Nations, 2002).
Within a year, the people of Africa responded to these challenges by forming the African Union. The African Union is Africa's practical and determined response to its past and present, in favour of development, education and prosperity. Its socio-economic revitalization of the continent is the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad). Nepad has a forceful mandate to eradicating poverty and underdevelopment throughout Africa in the context of education and training (Mbeki, 2002). .
The recently held World Summit on Sustainable Development hosted in Johannesburg reaffirmed these aspirations when the world leaders came out with a resolution to poverty reduction and development through education and training.
