Action plan aims to equip workforce with in-demand skills

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched its Skills for Employability and Productivity in Africa (SEPA) action plan for 2022-25, to bridge Africa’s skills gap, address skills mismatch and relevance on the back of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), climate change agenda and digital transformation in the labour market.

The AfDB’s action plan was outlined during virtual consultations with African government ministers, representatives of the African Union (AU), government officials and academics from 12-13 April 2022. The aim was to get regional member countries’ endorsement and input on how the plan can support investment in the higher education (HE) and science and technology sector as well as in technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

SEPA builds on the AfDB’s Human Capital Strategy (HCS), and is anchored to the 2016-25 Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) strategy.

It will contribute to the goal of creating 25 million jobs and equipping 50 million youth with relevant skills for productive employment and self-employment.

SEPA aligns with the AU Agenda 2063, which prioritises actions on catalysing an education and skills revolution, and actively promotes science, technology, research and innovation.

SEPA also aligns with the United Nations 2030 Agenda on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), notably SDG4, on equitable education and skills development, SDG8 on inclusive growth, productive employment, and decent work for all, and SDG1, on ending poverty.

Low STEM capacities and skills mismatched

“Africa is experiencing a critical shortage of both skilled technicians and highly qualified workers, particularly in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) critical to drive innovation and productivity, spur growth and create productive employment,” according to the SEPA. This is evidenced by Africa’s low STEM capacities that fall behind the rest of the world.

University education is concentrated in business administration, social sciences, education, and humanities, while the STEM studies that are crucial in a 4IR world are under-represented, according to AfDB’s African Economic Outlook 2020: Developing Africa’s workforce for the future report.

For example, enrolment is under 10% in engineering and in natural sciences, mathematics, and statistics, and under 5% in information and communication technologies. With digital technology increasingly imported into learning and the workplace, as the current COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated, Africa is being left behind due to limited internet access and connectivity, the SEPA reads.

In 2020, internet penetration in Africa averaged about 39% compared with a global average of about 63%, according to statistics issued by Miniwatts Marketing Group.

Besides low access to TVET at 8.7%, skills mismatch remains a critical challenge due to a weak linkage between education systems and labour market needs as 46% of Africa’s working youth perceive their skills as incompatible with their jobs, according to the SEPA.

The action plan also indicates that about 21% of business captains in Africa report a lack of adequately skilled workers as a major constraint to their operations, with over 29% of production workers rated as unskilled.

STEM subjects and collaboration stressed

There is rapid obsolescence of skills in the labour force because of the 4IR, climate change and digital transformation, resulting in evolving needs in the labour market, which are biased towards digital, technical, and STEM-related competencies. Given Africa’s ambitious industrialisation agenda, a skilled labour force, especially STEM-related competencies, is vital for driving innovation and competitiveness, according to the SEPA.

To better prepare for the future of work, the African Economic Outlook 2020 report indicated that education and training institutions in Africa should emphasise STEM subjects more, coupled with enhanced public-private sector collaboration to ensure that skills development is in tune with labour market needs.

Thus, the SEPA action plan presents a structured approach for operationalising AfDB’s commitment to skilling Africa’s workforce through contributing toward building a critical mass of innovative, productive, and skilled workforce to drive economic transformation and job creation.

To achieve that, SEPA is articulated around two mutually reinforcing areas of intervention: expanding infrastructure necessary for the development of demand-driven skills and strengthening an environment for skills development.

AfDB to support and develop systems

To achieve these interventions, the AfDB will support investment in inclusive quality STEM infrastructure (construction, expansion, rehabilitation, equipment) and support the establishment of centres of excellence to enhance innovation, research, and development, and harmonisation of skills development for skills mobility.

The AfDB will develop an e-learning infrastructure through the establishment of e-learning platforms and the deployment of open distance learning. The bank will also support investments in innovative ICT infrastructure at skills training facilities that promote fast data transfer and establish digital hubs to improve digital access and connectivity.

The AfDB will also support twinning arrangements and strategic partnerships with renowned universities and technical institutions for better quality skills and practices that meet international standards. A good example of such a partnership is the AfDB’s support of Rwanda through the Regional ICT Centre of Excellence in Rwanda (also known as Carnegie Mellon University Africa), which is producing high-quality ICT engineers.

The AfDB will enhance collaboration with the AU and the Education Commission for innovative financing in TVET and STEM to tap into the African Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Fund, an international co-financing facility for education.

To strengthen the management, coordination governance, and regulatory environment of skills development in the TVET and HE sub-sectors, the AfDB will support the reforms that promote relevance and quality of skills development through participation of the private sector and industry; enhance access and equity, especially for girls and disadvantaged youth; improve coordination and governance systems in the skills ecosystem, and increase funding to skills development.

The AfDB will partner with the private sector and industry for students to acquire on-the-job training through internships, and curriculum and entrepreneurship development to enhance the link between skills acquisition and industry demand.

Triple helix model to be promoted

The AfDB will also support regional policy reforms promoting skills mobility and harmonising qualification frameworks to foster regional integration. The AfDB will strengthen statistical, monitoring and evaluation capacities in TVET and HE institutions and support tracer and employers’ surveys to inform skills needs and employment outcome or relevance of graduates. Through SEPA, the AfDB will enhance knowledge generation and dissemination and promote evidence-based policies in TVET and HE.

According to the plan, training in entrepreneurial skills is underemphasised in TVET and HE institutions. Therefore, SEPA will integrate entrepreneurship in training curricula and qualification frameworks, and develop entrepreneurship and business infrastructure (incubators, accelerators, fab labs, and maker spaces) within learning institutions to enhance the competitiveness of the labour force.

The triple helix model (connection between academia, the private sector and communities) will be promoted as a catalyser for relevance and innovation and support of industrial skills hubs, mainly in industrial parks. Partnerships with the private sector will be emphasised for funding, running and managing entrepreneurship-related infrastructure and facilities.

The AfDB will further tackle gender barriers in skills development through initiatives in its interventions through gender mapping in SEPA-supported projects and programmes. The AfDB will also support affirmative policies for girls to pursue STEM-related courses in HE institutions and male-dominated trades in TVET.

Emphasis placed on climate change knowledge

The AfDB will support skills training and innovations that promote green technologies and address local, regional, and global environmental concerns to improve awareness, knowledge of climate change (and related job opportunities) among the youth through integrating climate change and environmental issues in school curricula, particularly in STEM subjects and expanding the involvement of women and young entrepreneurs in climate-smart and green innovations.

SEPA will also promote the emergence of a talent pool among the youth to develop solutions in line with climate change challenges and low-carbon development. The plan aims to support skills development initiatives that promote social cohesion, include persons with disabilities and build peace through reforms and targeted interventions, such as expanding open distance and e-learning (ODeL) systems.

Knowledge generation and effective information dissemination will be important non-lending instruments of SEPA. Each area of intervention will be a source of high-end information to generate knowledge products on key issues related to skills development in Africa. The knowledge products will be effectively disseminated to policymakers through seminars, forums, training events and knowledge outreach activities.

Thus, in the context of SEPA, the AfDB will seek to become more prominent as a knowledge provider on skills development and a supporter of reskilling a workforce whose skills have become irrelevant due to technological advancement, green-growth agenda, and digital transformation.