Towards an Informed Choice: Education on the World Market

Abstract

International trade in education services has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Trade liberalisation talks to encourage more trade in the sector through removal of barriers are slowly gaining momentum under the watchful eye of the World Trade Organisation. This paper has looked at policy implications of growth in international trade in education for developing nations with more focus on the Sub-Saharan Africa region. In order to do this, the paper first looked at supply and demand conditions of higher educational services in different regions of the world. The results of the analysis show that Sub-Saharan Africa is lagging behind most other regions in the provision of higher education services. Growth in international trade would thus help improve on student access to higher education. However, the opening up of the market to international traders needs to be done in a manner that ensures the region's ability to achieve its priorities.