The economic growth in Africa fails to generate social and economic inclusion through the creation of sufficient jobs. Employment is still characterized by informal work, under-employment, precarious working conditions and low productivity.
It’s widely see that digitalization and technological advancements have the potential to create new formal jobs and improve earnings in the informal sector. Building digital skills, a set of skills that users need to operate computers, search and select information, and use them for their own goals, is essential for this potential to be realized.
A report by ILO (International Labour Organization), INCLUDE, IDRC (International Development Research Centre), and Decent Jobs for Youth explores the key interrelated drivers and barriers to digital skills development and gainful employment for young people in Africa.
Analysts predict Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will need a more skilled labor force to absorb new technologies and foster digital transformation. However, there is a persistent underskilling and overskilling mismatch across the continent, with highly educated young people likely to be either unemployed or not utilizing their full skill set when employed.
There is a lack of basic and foundational skills, including the ability to use mobile technology for communication among the less well-educated and informally employed, making it challenging to build more advanced and technical skills down the line. Employers in SSA have also cited a lack of socio-emotional skills as a key reason why they do not hire fresh graduates.
These skills deficiencies raise the need for skills development at the primary and secondary level. However, educational enrolment is a concern across the whole of Africa. Persistent gender gaps, low quality of education, poor interaction between universities and local labor markets, and outdated curricula to match the needs of employers are also key problems.
In addition to tackling these problems, education technology (Edtech) should be increased to develop the needed skills for digital tool use.
A carefully designed Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) can have payoffs that increase over time as seen in other regions of the world. It can help develop the key digital and technical skills needed to drive innovation, productivity and employment. Challenges in developing skilled work through TVET include finding clear evidence on what works best, engaging the private sector, and capacity and resource constraints.
The importance of foundational digital skills learning and uptake among TVET students in accessing the labor market, adaptability, and mobility cannot be overstated. The paper recommends adopting a two-pronged approach by prioritizing both advanced digital skills in catalytic sectors and supporting the relevance and impact of TVET for low-skilled occupations and in informal sectors. Improving links between TVET and industry is crucial to ensure that the right skills are being provided for the labor market with direct input from employers. Building on the steps made to harmonize TVET curricula and qualifications is also essential for fostering improved transferability and recognition of the skills required for gainful employment.
Informal sectors like agriculture and the services sector are also focus areas for tailored digital skills education strategies. People seeking employment in these sectors will need to have the necessary skills to work with digital technologies being adopted. The services sector has the highest rate of digital adoption, predicted to reach 40 to 65% of all service jobs by 2030.
The report recommends addressing bottlenecks in digital transformation, including connectivity and the digital divide, alongside building digital skills for a better employment in Africa.
Read the full report here.