In 21st century Africa, the paradigm of universities must shift from traditional teaching and learning to building communities, invigorating the economy, nurturing leadership, and developing skill sets. Education must play its key role in developing human capital. This paper, after a brief global overview of higher education and its input to economic development, focuses on African universities and business schools and their role in developing national skill sets and best practices. It then conducts the same exercise for Kenya. It identifies gaps and suggests initiatives to fix them, consolidated in a framework for expanding Kenyas skill sets, and looks at 10 pillars for how universities can stimulate economic development. Among the key findings: There is a need to strengthen the academic core of universities. This is essential to producing knowledge, reproducing the academy, and providing the high-level skills that drive development. For improving policy (and implementation) there is a need for coordination at national and institutional levels to help tie universities more closely to development.