In his work The Histories, ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Greeks borrowed much of their knowledge, including geometry, from Egypt. Ancient sources report that mathematician Pythagoras travelled widely to Egypt, Babylonia, and beyond, studying with Egyptian priests to learn geometry, astronomy, and religious rituals.
Most modern scholars agree that Egyptian mathematics influenced Greek thinkers like Thales and Pythagoras, because Egypt had developed sophisticated geometric methods for surveying land, constructing pyramids, and calculating areas and volumes.
Several truths emerge from this. First, what we call “Western” mathematics actually predates Western civilisations and has deeper roots in Africa and the Middle East. Second, the foundational ideas that shaped early science and mathematics were not originally transmitted in English by their Egyptian originators.
This premise is necessary for Africans to disentangle mathematics from the perceived custodial rights of colonisers. Mathematics is undeniably one of humanity’s most powerful tools. Born from practical needs to measure land, build monuments like the Pyramids, and manage taxes and trade, it has quietly driven almost every leap forward in human progress.
Ancient Egyptians laid the groundwork with practical geometry, while Babylonians shaped early algebra — innovations that enabled irrigation and cities and set the stage for thinkers like Euclid, Pythagoras, Archimedes, and Al-Khwarizmi to transform these methods into theorems, proofs, and algorithms across classical Greece and the Islamic Golden Age.
Those breakthroughs became the backbone of science and engineering, giving humanity the laws of motion and gravity, and powering the steam engines, railways, and factories that fueled the Industrial Revolution. Today, mathematics runs pervasively through our lives, embedded in smartphones, the Internet, artificial intelligence, and big data. It remains the invisible force that turns ideas into reality.
The challenge is that since colonisation, weak math education has left Africans underrepresented in industries where mathematical innovation drives progress.
Without strong skills in math, statistics, and economics, many African countries historically struggled to properly value their natural resources or estimate their worth to foreign buyers. This left them signing mining and oil contracts without fully grasping long-term economic consequences, allowing wealth extraction without fair reinvestment at home. The same conditions persist today.
When the British colonial government formalised schooling in Nigeria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the main aim was producing low-level clerks, interpreters, and civil servants to support colonial administration — not scientists, engineers, or industrialists.
The curriculum focused heavily on English literacy, basic arithmetic for bookkeeping, and Christian religious instruction. Alongside deliberate underfunding of schools, colonial education relied on decontextualised textbooks and poorly trained teachers, especially in maths and science.
Worse, it imposed an extra barrier by forcing African children to learn mathematics in English, often their second or third language. Even more insidious was how traditional African knowledge systems — indigenous numeracy, measurement, and trade mathematics — were undervalued or ignored.
This taught learners to see mathematics as alien and disconnected from their cultures, making it one of the most feared subjects in classrooms across the continent.
This persistent mindset limits Africa’s participation in global productivity and technological advancement.
Recent evidence highlights this crisis. In the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, just 53.6% of candidates achieved benchmark credit passes including Maths and English. Meanwhile, NECO’s 2024 examination showed only 60.6% of school-based candidates met that benchmark. These figures indicate a serious gap between elite students and the majority who struggle to reach foundational levels.
At its core, mathematics trains students to back every answer with clear steps and evidence, building habits of logical reasoning and sound decision-making.
Learners who regularly practice problem-solving in maths are better equipped to analyse information, weigh alternatives, and defend ideas with facts — all bedrock skills for innovation. This is why Africa must urgently build a next generation fluent in the world’s universal language of problem-solving.
The Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2016-2025) calls for embedding mathematics from early childhood across primary, secondary, and vocational studies while strengthening science and math curricula. Reviving indigenous math education must begin with a clear vision that reconnects young Africans with their mathematical heritage.
Many African societies developed sophisticated systems of numeracy, measurement, and trade long before colonial schooling — from Yoruba counting systems to geometric principles in traditional architecture and crafts. Curriculum reform should build on this foundation, weaving these systems into modern teaching to show students that mathematics is deeply rooted in African knowledge and daily life.
Teacher training across the continent must prioritise maths and science, equipping educators to link community knowledge with global STEM fields. Rather than relying on rote memorisation, lessons should draw on local examples — markets, farming, architecture, crafts, engineering, and technology — making abstract ideas practical and relatable. This approach builds real problem-solving skills and helps students see maths as alive in their world.
Governments should work alongside local universities, mathematical associations, and private companies to design, fund, and scale programmes that blend indigenous knowledge with 21st century STEM skills. Making math education accessible and meaningful for all, especially rural children and underserved communities, requires removing language barriers. Nigeria must fully implement its mother-tongue policy in primary schools nationwide.
Africa’s future depends on its technical capacity and confidence to negotiate, innovate, compete industrially, and build lasting economic independence — all grounded in strong maths and science education. Instead of sliding deeper into dependence on foreign powers, Africa must reinvest in an indigenous math tradition and rebuild the skills that once helped shape the foundations of the modern world.
