Features

Reducing age of university graduation: Reforming GCE A/L pathway

Published

2 months ago

2026/08/7

Thilina Walpola

by Prof. M. P. S. Magamage
Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka

A National Debate Focused on the Wrong Target

Sri Lanka is once again engaged in an intense national debate on education reform. However, public discussion remains narrowly confined to curriculum content what should or should not be taught in classrooms while the deeper structural failures of the education system are left largely untouched. Arguments over isolated subjects such as sexuality education, moral instruction, or cultural content dominate discourse, yet they overlook a far more urgent reality: Sri Lanka’s education crisis is systemic, not curricular.

What the country urgently requires is comprehensive education reform, not cosmetic syllabus revisions. Education reform concerns the very architecture of learning: how long students remain in school, when and how they are assessed, how they move between school, vocational training, and university, how talent is identified and accelerated, and how second chances are created. Without addressing these foundational issues, curriculum reform alone will neither reduce inequality nor prepare the nation for a rapidly changing global economy.

The Cost of Delay: How the System Wastes Time and Talent

One of the most damaging features of Sri Lanka’s education system is the excessive time students spend progressing through rigid and repetitive educational stages. A typical Sri Lankan student enters university later than peers in many developed and East Asian countries and graduates at 24-26 years of age. This delay is not driven by academic necessity, but by administrative rigidity, compulsory waiting periods, and repeated examinations.

These lost years represent a substantial national cost. Young people enter the workforce late, families carry prolonged financial burdens, and students experience psychological stress and burnout. For a developing economy facing demographic transition, labour shortages, and global competition, such inefficiency is unsustainable. A modern education system must minimize time-to-qualification while safeguarding academic standards.

Education Reform Versus Curriculum Reform: Understanding the Difference

Curriculum reform focuses on what is taught. Education reform focuses on how the system functions. Sri Lanka has repeatedly attempted curriculum reform without correcting the structural framework that delivers it, resulting in limited and short-lived impact.

True education reform must confront fundamental questions: Why must all students follow identical timelines regardless of ability? Why does a single examination at age 18 permanently determine academic futures? Why are schools, vocational institutes, and universities treated as disconnected silos? Until these issues are addressed, curriculum debates will remain superficial.

Reducing the age of university graduation

A central objective of higher education reform must be to reduce the age at which student’s complete university education. Sri Lanka should aim for capable students to graduate by 21–22 years of age, in line with global norms. Achieving this requires shortening pre-university cycles, eliminating artificial delays, and introducing accelerated, merit-based progression pathways within the public university system. Earlier graduation enhances national productivity, enables timely entry into postgraduate training or skilled employment, and strengthens the country’s human capital base. Importantly, such reforms do not dilute academic standards; rather, they remove structural inefficiencies that currently constrain high-performing students.

Delayed graduation often coincides with major life events, particularly marriage and family formation, affecting both male and female graduates. As a result, many graduates face immediate pressure to secure employment, often accepting underemployment or unstable jobs due to social and financial commitments. Public universities currently enroll a disproportionately high number of female students, while many male students increasingly prefer private universities, largely due to their shorter, more predictable completion timelines and faster entry into the labour market. When graduation and marriage overlap, especially for women, labour market participation can be further constrained by workplace policies, maternity leave provisions, and limited flexibility in the private sector, particularly for new entrants. Consequently, graduates may gravitate toward lower-paid but secure government employment, limiting workforce mobility and slowing overall economic dynamism. Addressing delayed graduation is therefore not merely an academic concern but a structural economic and social imperative, essential for improving labour market outcomes, gender equity in employment, and national competitiveness.

Rethinking the school curriculum timeline

There is no educational justification for forcing all students to remain in a uniform school structure until Grade 13. Students mature intellectually at different rates, and education systems must adapt accordingly. Sri Lanka should permit students to sit the GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) examination immediately after successful completion of Grade 8 if they demonstrate the required academic competence. Age- and grade-based barriers should be replaced with achievement- and aptitude-based progression, recognising readiness rather than enforcing rigid timelines.

Reforming the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) pathway rationale

The current GCE Advanced Level (A/L) system is largely time-bound, compelling students to remain in formal schooling for fixed periods regardless of individual readiness, academic ability, or career intent. This approach leads to unnecessary repetition, inefficient use of public and private educational resources, and significant psychological strain on students.

A major consequence of this rigidity is the protracted age of graduation in Sri Lanka, where the average university graduate is currently 25–26 years old. This delayed transition from education to employment reduces lifetime productivity, increases dependency on families and the state, and postpones young people’s meaningful contribution to national development. In a rapidly changing global economy, such delays place Sri Lanka at a competitive disadvantage.

Reforming the A/L pathway to be merit-based and competency-driven, rather than strictly time-based, directly addresses this structural inefficiency. By enabling earlier academic progression, flexible examination timelines, and alternative pathways into higher education, the proposed system creates conditions for Sri Lankan youth to complete undergraduate education by the age of 20–22 years without compromising academic standards.

This reform is therefore not merely an educational adjustment, but a strategic response to a national human capital challenge-aligning schooling, higher education, and workforce entry with the country’s long-term economic and social development goals.

Core principle

A reformed A/L pathway should be merit-based, flexible, and student-centered. Students who demonstrate readiness should be allowed to progress faster, while those who benefit from extended preparation should retain that option. Compulsory time-based attendance should be replaced with competency-based progression.

Proposed Three-Track Entry System for GCE A/L

· Track 1: Direct A/L Entry after Grade 8 (Accelerated Academic Track)

Grade 8 becomes the final compulsory year of regular schooling.

Academically exceptional students may sit for the GCE A/L examination two years after completing Grade 8, without being required to sit for the GCE O/L examination. Entry to this track is strictly merit-based, using standardized national assessments, aptitude tests, and school-based evaluations. This track is designed for high-achieving students with strong academic orientation and clear university goals.

· Track 2: Early A/L Entry after GCE O/L (Flexible Track)

Students who successfully complete GCE O/L may enter A/L and sit for the examination after six months to one year of structured preparation, depending on readiness. Attendance for a full two-year A/L class is not compulsory. This track allows motivated students to avoid unnecessary repetition while maintaining academic rigor.

· Track 3: Conventional A/L Pathway (Extended Preparation Track)

Students may continue under the existing system, completing GCE O/L followed by two years in A/L classes. This option remains available for students who prefer or require longer academic preparation.

Post–Grade 8 Pathway Options

After completion of Grade 8, students may choose one of the following pathways based on interest, aptitude, and performance:

· GCE O/L Academic Pathway

· GCE A/L Academic Pathway (via Track 1 or Track 2)

· Vocational and Professional Education Pathway

Role of vocational universities and foundation programmes

All vocational universities must offer structured foundation programmes aligned with national qualification frameworks. These programmes should emphasise practical skills, applied knowledge, and career readiness. In addition, conventional universities may offer fee-levied foundation programmes as an alternative entry route. Students who do not wish to sit for GCE A/L may complete a two-year foundation programme and, upon successful completion, progress directly into a degree programme.

Expected outcomes

· Reduced student stress and dropout rates

· Efficient use of public and private educational resources

· Earlier entry into higher education and the workforce

· Direct reduction in the average age of graduation

· Equal dignity and recognition for academic and vocational pathways

· Greater alignment between education, employability, and national development needs

Reforming universities: flexibility and second chances

Sri Lanka’s national education system currently permits up to three GCE Advanced Level (A/L) attempts for university entry. While intended as an equity measure, this policy has become a major structural cause of delayed university entry and late graduation, with many students spending several additional years repeatedly preparing for examinations instead of progressing through higher education.

Access to competitive professional degrees such as Medicine, Dental Sciences, Veterinary Sciences, and Engineering are overwhelmingly determined by performance at the first A/L attempt, yet students continue to pursue second and third attempts in the hope of marginal rank improvements. This results in significant wastage of time, talent, and public resources. To address this inefficiency, university reform must introduce formal lateral entry pathways into professional degree programmes. Students who do not qualify for Medicine, Dental, Veterinary, or Engineering degrees at their first A/L attempt should be encouraged to enter related undergraduate programmes such as Biological Sciences, Agriculture, Physical Sciences, Food Sciences, or Technology streams.

After one to two years of exceptional academic performance at university, high-achieving students should be permitted to sit for a common lateral entry examination and undergo performance-based evaluation for transfer into professional degree programmes. Selection should be based on university GPA, standardized assessments, and aptitude testing rather than prior A/L rankings alone. This approach rewards demonstrated academic excellence and maturity, recognizes that intellectual capability develops over time, and provides genuine second chances without penalizing efficiency. Crucially, it would significantly reduce the incentive for repeated A/L attempts, as students would have a clear, merit-based alternative route into professional education.

With the gradual institutionalization of lateral entry mechanisms, Sri Lanka could phase out the third A/L attempt within 3–5 years, retaining at most a single repeat attempt. This reform would shorten education timelines, reduce student burnout, and enable earlier graduation while preserving high professional standards. University flexibility and second-chance pathways thus represent not a dilution of merit, but a more rational, humane, and development-oriented approach to talent selection.

Cross-sisciplinary mobility in higher education

Students should not be permanently locked into academic disciplines chosen at the age of 17. Structured opportunities must be created for cross-disciplinary mobility, particularly enabling Arts students to transition into Science and Technology streams through bridging modules and foundation programmes. Interdisciplinary mobility promotes innovation, adaptability, and critical thinking qualities essential for a modern, knowledge-based economy. Universities must function as spaces for intellectual growth, not academic confinement.

Establishing Faculties of Arts and Sciences

Every public university in Sri Lanka should be mandated to establish a Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Such faculties foster integrated education, broad-based intellectual development, and collaboration across traditional disciplinary boundaries. This reform will strengthen research capacity, evidence-based policymaking, and innovation, while systematically dismantling artificial academic silos that limit creativity and problem-solving.

Retaining core subjects while modernising content

Education reform must preserve Sri Lanka’s cultural, ethical, and civilisational foundations while simultaneously embedding future-ready competencies. Core subjects should be retained as compulsory components of general education, including: – Sinhala, Tamil, and English – Religious Studies, History and Social Sciences, Health Education, Mathematics and Sciences, Dance, Music, and Aesthetic Studies. These subjects ensure linguistic competence, moral grounding, historical consciousness, and holistic human development.

Alongside them, new foundational literacies must be introduced for all students: – Computing and Digital Literacy – Basic Data Analysis and Logical Reasoning – Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence – Cybersecurity and Digital Safety – Introductory Programming using Python – Basic Statistical Computing using R. These competencies are no longer optional; they are essential for informed citizenship and employability in a digital society.

Modernising O/L and A/L study streams

Both O/L and A/L study streams must be restructured and aligned with national development priorities. Proposed streams include: Biological and Biomedical Studies, Mathematics and Computing, Technology and Engineering, Arts and Sciences and Commerce and Management. These streams should allow flexible subject combinations and ensure smooth progression to universities, vocational institutions, and professional training programmes, reflecting contemporary knowledge domains and labour market needs.

Why curriculum debates alone are inadequate

Public discourse often becomes narrowly focused on individual curriculum components, diverting attention from deeper systemic failures. Without addressing structural inefficiencies, rigid progression rules, and inequitable access mechanisms, curriculum reform alone will deliver limited results. Education reform creates the enabling conditions under which curriculum improvements can be effective. It is the system, not isolated subjects, that ultimately determines educational outcomes.

Conclusion

This reformed GCE A/L framework preserves academic standards while introducing flexibility, efficiency, and student autonomy. By shifting from a rigid, time-bound model to a merit- and competency-based system, Sri Lanka can create an education pathway that is inclusive, future-oriented, and responsive to diverse student aspirations.

Critically, this reform directly addresses the persistent problem of delayed graduation, where the average age of a Sri Lankan university graduate is currently 25–26 years. Such delays impose significant social, economic, and psychological costs on individuals and the nation. By enabling earlier progression through school, alternative entry routes to higher education, and reduced redundancy in examination pathways, this model makes it feasible for Sri Lankan youth to graduate by the age of 20–22 years.

Earlier graduation will strengthen national productivity, reduce the financial burden on families and the state, accelerate entry into the workforce, and allow young adults to contribute meaningfully to national development during their most productive years. The real reform is therefore not merely an educational adjustment, but a strategic investment in Sri Lanka’s human capital and future competitiveness.

Reducing the age of university graduation: reforming the GCE Advanced Level pathway

Prof. M. P. S. Magamage is a Professor of Livestock Production and former Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka. He previously served as Chairman of the National Livestock Development Board of Sri Lanka. A Fulbright Scholar, Indian Science Research Fellow, Australian Endeavour Fellow, and Visiting Professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, USA, he has extensive international experience in animal biotechnology, reproductive biology, livestock production, higher education, research, and academic leadership.

E mail; magamage@agri.sab.ac.lk/mmagamage2@gmail.com

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Features

Defend civic space upon which peace is built

Published

21 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

by Jehan Perera

International Peace Day was observed on 21 September. It finds Sri Lanka with a genuine achievement to record and a demanding test to meet. The UN’s theme this year was “Invest in Peace: For Everyone, Everywhere, Every Day.” It also honoured the “everyday architects of peace”—people driving local action and building a lasting peace from the ground up. In the 2026 Global Peace Index, Sri Lanka rose 30 places, from 97th to 67th among 163 countries. Over the same period, global peacefulness declined for the twelfth consecutive year to its lowest level since the index began, and South Asia suffered the sharpest regional deterioration. The test is whether the government will protect the civic space in which those architects of peace work.

Sri Lanka’s improvement is real and deserves acknowledgement. In this year’s review, issued a few weeks ago, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights acknowledged progress in the form of action against corruption, arrests and investigations linked to political killings, enforced disappearances and the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks, and continued official denunciation of racism. A ranking, however, records conditions at a particular moment. It does not guarantee that they will last. Sustainable peace will depend on three factors. These are whether the government addresses the unresolved causes of conflict, whether it strengthens accountability for past and present abuses, and whether it protects the civic space in which peace is built from below. On the first two the record is incomplete. On the third, the draft NGO law threatens to weaken the very organisations that press for the other two.

What holds Sri Lanka back from a higher place are the same things that fed the war at home and also feed international conflict that rages elsewhere in the world. These are racism or ethnic nationalism that is narrow-focused, corruption and lawlessness. Equality, accountability and the rule of law are their remedies. The present government has committed itself to these, and is a significant improvement over governments of the recent past. But these pillars are not held up by governments alone. Peace is made in villages, workplaces and university campuses. It is made by families who insist on the truth about their disappeared, by journalists and lawyers who expose abuse, and by community organisations that bring Tamils, Muslims and Sinhalese into practical cooperation.

Unfinished Work

The UN High Commissioner’s report to the current Human Rights Council session, covering October 2025 to July 2026, shows how much remains to be done. The Prevention of Terrorism Act is still being applied, producing arbitrary arrests and long detention without charge. The report calls for a moratorium pending repeal and for the release of long-term detainees. Military-occupied land has not been released, memorialisation lacks support, and tensions over land and religious sites persist. The Batticaloa district illustrates how such problems endure. In the past three years, two Presidents, Ranil Wickremesinghe and Anura Kumara Dissanayake, have visited and instructed that the dispute over grazing land in Mailaththamadu and Mathavanai be resolved. It is a dispute between Tamil cattle farmers and outside Sinhala cultivators, and it has not been resolved. When two Presidents issue instructions and nothing changes, the fault lies in the machinery of State. An unresolved dispute does not stand still. It hardens into the next grievance.

Accountability shows the same pattern. The report documents torture and deaths in custody, and surveillance and intimidation of activists, journalists and civil society. Serious cases remain stalled for years, among them the killing of seventeen aid workers of Action Contre la Faim in Muttur two decades ago. Sharper still is the case of the Eastern University refugee camp at Vantharamoolai, where in 1990 the army took away 158 persons in a single day. They were never seen again. The camp’s officer-in-charge, Dr T. Jayasingam, later Vice Chancellor of the university, identified the officers responsible. More than three decades on, those officers have not been questioned. These cases are still remembered because families, survivors and independent witnesses have refused to let them be forgotten. Meanwhile several commissions of inquiry have completed their investigations but nothing further has happened.

What South Africa, Argentina and other post-conflict societies have found indispensable are four pillars of what is called “Transitional Justice” which are truth, accountability, reparations and non-recurrence. In Sri Lanka’s circumstances, truth means credible, independent investigation of what happened to the disappeared, and support for memorialisation. Accountability means prosecuting Muttur, Vantharamoolai and comparable cases, and removing credibly accused persons from senior office. Reparations mean compensation for victims and the return of military-held land. Non-recurrence means repealing the Prevention of Terrorism Act, releasing those held under it in the meantime, and resolving local disputes such as Mailaththamadu before delay hardens them. A country that buries its past does not escape it. The past returns in the next generation.

Civil Society

It is against this background that the draft NGO law is most troubling. The proposed legislation contains sweeping provisions for State oversight and control of civil society organisations. Among these are enforcing a licensing requirement on NGOs, which is to be renewed every three years, and severe penalties for not submitting reports on time, or for spending on emergency flood relief (for instance) when the NGOs mandate is peacebuilding (as an example) with possible sanctions including deregistration and having to shut down. Civil society groups have warned that it would confer excessive discretion over their registration and operations. Officials in Sri Lanka have abused such powers in the past. Additional power without effective checks invites further abuse. Sound regulation would have clear criteria for registration, an independent registrar and a right of appeal to the courts. What cannot be justified is a regime in which registration becomes a licence to be withheld from organisations that scrutinise policy, expose abuses or advocate for the rights of citizens.

Democracy is based on checks and balances. Those who press for accountability are part of those checks. The contradiction is plain. A government that has pledged accountability, equality and the rule of law ought not to be preparing to weaken the very organisations that press for their fulfilment. The organisations most exposed are those working on disappearances, land, memorialisation and reconciliation in the North and East, where the State’s record is weakest and the need for independent witnesses greatest. Silencing them would not remove the grievances they document. It would remove the channel through which those grievances are addressed peacefully. The government appears to be relenting, which is welcome, but a pause is not a withdrawal. The bill should be withdrawn and any replacement drafted in genuine consultation with those it would govern.

Investment in peace as called for by the UN in its International Peace Day theme implies commitment over time, with returns that come slowly. Sri Lanka’s 30-place rise on the Global Peace Index is a first dividend and nothing more. It can be built upon only if the government matches its commitments with action: withdrawing or fundamentally redrafting the NGO law, repealing or suspending the Prevention of Terrorism Act, and bringing Muttur, Vantharamoolai and Mailaththamadu to resolution. A higher place in a global index is not a certificate of success. Sri Lanka’s higher ranking is an encouraging start, but it will endure only if the space in which citizens speak, question and organise is protected. Peace is built from below, and a government that is serious about it will treat civil society as a partner rather than a threat.

Features

Africa is buying: Sri Lanka must start selling

Published

21 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

A call to Sri Lankan exporters and agencies: Can Sri Lanka compete with China and India in Africa?

By Kana V. Kananathan
Former Ambassador

Sri Lanka has spent decades concentrating its exports on traditional markets in Europe, North America and Asia. Yet across the Indian Ocean lies a rapidly expanding market that remains significantly underdeveloped by Sri Lankan exporters: Africa.

The opportunity is not theoretical. Sri Lanka already exports packaging, textiles, rubber products, pharmaceuticals, paper, machinery and electrical goods to African markets. The question is whether these modest beginnings can be transformed into a serious export strategy—and whether Sri Lanka can compete against the enormous commercial presence of China and India.

The answer is yes—but Sri Lanka must compete differently.

Kenya: Gateway to East Africa

Kenya should be the starting point.

Sri Lanka exported approximately US$32.08 million to Kenya in 2025, while importing US$11.41 million. But US$32 million is tiny compared with the opportunity: Kenya imported more than US$24 billion in 2025. Even a 1% share of that market would represent nearly US$240 million in annual exports.

And the commercial base already exists. Sri Lanka’s 2025 exports to Kenya included approximately US$9.99 million in paper and paperboard products, US$9.73 million in knitted fabrics, US$3.64 million in pharmaceuticals, US$1.24 million in rubber products and US$1.20 million in machinery.

Kenya’s import structure is equally revealing. In the third quarter of 2025, industrial supplies represented 34.4% of imports, machinery and capital equipment 19.2%, food and beverages 9.0%, and consumer goods 7.3%. The opportunity for Sri Lanka, therefore, extends well beyond consumer goods—we can become a supplier to African industry.

But competition is fierce. Asia supplied around 70% of Kenya’s imports in 2025, with imports from China rising 16.5% and those from India 11.3%.

Sri Lanka cannot challenge China and India across every product category. Nor should it try. We must target sectors where quality, specialisation, reliability, technical capability, smaller production runs and flexibility matter more than simply offering the lowest price.

Where Can Sri Lanka Compete?

Packaging is an obvious starting point. Cartons, boxes, bags and labels are already among Sri Lanka’s exports to Kenya. Importantly, some Sri Lankan companies operating in Kenya are themselves importing these products from Sri Lanka. The market already exists; the challenge is to scale it.

As Africa’s food-processing, pharmaceutical, apparel and consumer-goods industries expand, demand for sophisticated packaging will grow with them. Sri Lanka already possesses the manufacturing capability and industry experience to capture a larger share.

Industrial rubber products, tyres, gloves and specialised rubber components offer another opportunity where Sri Lanka has established manufacturing expertise.

The apparel supply chain is equally promising. Rather than competing directly with African garment factories, Sri Lanka can supply fabrics, elastics, labels, packaging and specialised textile inputs.

Some Sri Lankan apparel manufacturing and export companies already established in Kenya, Togo, Ghana and Ethiopia are importing several of these inputs from Sri Lanka. The supply chain, therefore, already exists. The next step is to move beyond supplying Sri Lankan-owned factories and become a competitive input supplier to the wider African apparel industry.

Other sectors deserving systematic market development include pharmaceuticals and medical consumables, processed foods, biscuits and confectionery, coconut products, cinnamon and spices, electrical products and cables, industrial chemicals, ceramics, light engineering, agricultural equipment and food-processing machinery.

Sri Lanka should also look beyond physical goods. IT, fintech, banking technology, engineering, healthcare, hospitality management and professional services largely escape the freight disadvantage confronting merchandise exports.

The Tariff Problem Can Become an Opportunity

Market access cannot be discussed without tariffs.The East African Community applies a Common External Tariff with bands of 0%, 10%, 25% and 35%, while certain sensitive products attract still higher protection. Simply filling containers in Colombo with finished consumer goods will therefore not always be commercially competitive.

But that obstacle points towards a bigger opportunity: manufacture in Africa.

Sri Lankan businesses could export intermediate materials while undertaking final assembly, manufacturing, processing or packaging in Kenya. Packaging companies could establish converting plants; electrical manufacturers could assemble locally; pharmaceutical companies could explore manufacturing or packaging partnerships; and food companies could undertake final processing closer to consumers.

Kenya would then become more than an export destination. It could become Sri Lanka’s manufacturing and distribution gateway into East and Central Africa.

With the East African Community now comprising eight partner states and extending geographically from the Indian Ocean towards the Atlantic, establishing a regional presence is increasingly more important than viewing each African country in isolation.

West Africa Cannot Be Ignored

Sri Lanka simultaneously needs a West African strategy.

Ghana offers potential as an English-speaking commercial gateway and host of the AfCFTA Secretariat. Nigeria, with its enormous population and consumer economy, should be approached as a major market in its own right, despite its greater regulatory, currency and operational complexity.

ECOWAS tariff bands of 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 35% again make product selection critical. Sri Lanka should concentrate on products with sufficient differentiation and margins to absorb freight, tariffs and distributor costs.

Pharmaceuticals demonstrate both the opportunity and the challenge. Nigeria imported approximately US$766 million in pharmaceuticals in 2025, with India supplying roughly US$394 million and China US$131 million. Ghana imported approximately US$301 million, with India supplying about US$140 million.

Sri Lanka cannot simply offer another generic product and expect to beat India on price. We must identify specialised products, reliable supply arrangements, partnerships and, where commercially justified, local production or packaging.

Stop Promoting Sectors—Identify Products

Sri Lanka now needs an Africa Export Opportunity Study based on individual products, not broad sectors.

The Export Development Board, Foreign Ministry, chambers and private sector should jointly identify 15–20 priority products. For each product, Sri Lanka should calculate the HS code, African annual import demand, principal suppliers, Chinese and Indian market shares, applicable duties, freight from Colombo, regulatory requirements, distributor margins and final landed price.

That will tell us where Sri Lanka genuinely has a competitive advantage.

The Commercial Test

Before spending resources promoting a product, apply one simple test:

African import demand + Sri Lankan production capability + tariff + freight + distributor margin + regulatory cost = final landed competitiveness against China, India and local African production.

Only products that pass this test should receive concentrated export-promotion resources.

This would move Sri Lanka away from exhibitions, delegations and general discussions towards what ultimately matters: specific products, specific buyers, specific distributors and actual export orders.

Give Our Missions Targets

Commercial diplomacy must become results-driven. The Government should set clear annual trade and investment targets for every Sri Lankan mission in Africa.

Missions should be evaluated not merely on diplomatic activity, but on buyers and distributors identified, business introductions made, investments facilitated, market barriers resolved and measurable exports generated.

In a competitive Africa, our missions must become active economic frontlines not merely diplomatic outposts.

A practical strategy could operate through three commercial gateways: Nairobi for East and Central Africa, Accra for selected West African markets and Lagos for Nigeria.

Sri Lanka’s total exports of goods and services reached approximately US$17.25 billion in 2025. Capturing even a small additional share of Africa’s enormous import market could, therefore, make a meaningful contribution to export earnings, investment and foreign-exchange generation.

Africa Will Not Wait

Sri Lankan exporters must stop looking at Africa as a distant or difficult market and start treating it as a strategic growth market.

We cannot compete with China and India on scale, but we can compete on quality, specialisation, flexibility and reliability. Exporters must identify country-specific opportunities, establish strong local distributors, build partnerships with African businesses and use Sri Lankan companies already operating on the continent as gateways into regional supply chains.

Where freight and tariffs weaken competitiveness, businesses must be prepared to move towards local assembly, joint ventures and manufacturing in Africa. Exporters cannot do it alone. They need aggressive, measurable and results-driven commercial diplomacy from Sri Lanka’s missions.

Africa is buying. Its markets are being captured now. Sri Lanka must stop watching from the sidelines. We must enter, compete, build our presence and secure our share.

(Ambassador Kana Kananathan is a businessman, Diplomat, lobbyist and an expert in African affairs, with over four decades of experience on the African continent. A long-time resident of Africa, he served as Sri Lanka’s envoy to Uganda and Kenya, with concurrent accreditation to 22 African Nations, and was the permanent representative to UN Habitat and UN environmental Programme. Over the years, he has been the Elections Monitor across the continent, working closely with African governments, and built enduring partnerships with African leaders. He also served as Economic and Investments Advisor to former President Professor Alpha Condé of the Republic of Guinea)

Features

Memories and Midnight Magic: Recipe for a perfect 31st Night dance

Published

21 hours ago

2026/09/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

The heart of a great 31st Night dance is memory, and memories come rushing back when those 70s, 80s and 90s golden oldies begin to play — those timeless tunes that make revellers, young and old, rush to the floor and dance the night away.

A perfect 31st Night is not just a party. It is a journey. A journey through time.

The music should flow like a love story. Start slow, start soft. Let couples glide into a waltz for romance. Let the floor come alive with a twist, a rock ‘n’ roll, a jive. Let nostalgia build with beautiful sing-along oldies generally associated with a New Year’s Eve dance.

This is the art that many of our entertainers seem to have forgotten.

The final hour, before midnight, is sacred. It should be collective energy at its peak. The entire crowd, on the dance floor, linking arms, swaying together, singing, at the top of their voices, those sing-along favourites.

Yes, I’m referring to those immortal, nostalgic favourites that unite the world: ‘This Land Is Your Land,’ ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ ‘When The Saints Go Marching In,’ ‘Roll Out The Barrel,’ ‘Celebration,’ ‘She’ll Be Coming Round The Mountain,’ ‘Happy Days Are Here Again,’ and so many more.

One wonders if some of our modern entertainers have even heard of these nostalgia anthems that traditionally lead up to the dawning of the New Year! This is not just music; this is ritual.

Then comes THE moment: Lights dim. Music pauses. A hush falls. The countdown begins — 10, 9, 8… — hugs, wishes, tears of joy, and then … ‘Auld Lang Syne.’ Hands crossed, voices united, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new. That moment makes or breaks the night.

Here is the truth that many genuine 31st Night revellers feel but hesitate to say — an overdose of baila music at New Year’s Eve events is NOT welcome.

Of course, baila is required. Baila is our Sri Lankan heartbeat! But a 31st Night dance is for everyone.

When it’s ONLY baila, the twist and rock n’ roll lovers, the waltz kings and queens feel left out. And they are the very people who MADE nostalgia! They are the die-hard revellers who have kept the 31st Night spirit alive for decades.

A family mentioned to me that they went along with friends for a 31st Night dance, in the city, to usher in 2026, and were thoroughly disappointed with the setup.

The bands in attendance, they said, failed to generate the excitement generally associated with a 31st Night event.

If given a free hand, the music at certain Colombo venues will be mostly baila, and that is going to disappoint many. Some are already worried that it will be just a baila scene this year, as well.

A memorable 31st Night respects all rhythms … yes, a waltz for romance, a twist and rock n’ roll for that 60s magic, a cha-cha, a slow foxtrot, and then the baila, after the countdown anthem.

That balance is what makes it inclusive, classy, and truly fun-filled.

Organisers, especially in Colombo, should keep this in mind: let it be 70% nostalgia – Western, and 30% baila, with the last hour left for pure baila madness, after the New Year is in!

Organisers must work out the programme for their 31st Night and instruct the entertainers to follow those instructions. The band should not dictate the night; the spirit of nostalgia should.

This New Year, let’s give Colombo what it truly wants — memories, midnight magic, and music for every soul on the floor.

Let’s dance into 2027 with class.