At the conference's opening session in Accra, the Hon. Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Ghana's Minister for Education, emphasized the necessity for African nations to adapt to the swift changes in the labor market brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. He pointed out that in the coming decades, a significant portion of the world's workforce will originate from Africa, which is the only continent experiencing growth in its youth population.
ASW is being held in Accra from October 14 to 18, 2024, under the theme “Skills and jobs for the 21st century: quality skills development for sustainable employability in Africa,” aligning with the African Union’s Year of Education in 2024.
The conference is organized by the Government of Ghana in collaboration with the African Union (AU) and is supported by Germany through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), along with the International Labour Organization, UNESCO, the World Bank, Ghana’s Commission for TVET (CTVET), and the Ministries of Education and Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration.
Citing a World Economic Forum report that forecasts a 23% disruption in global jobs by 2027, with 69 million new positions expected to emerge and 83 million jobs at risk, Dr. Adutwum stressed the importance of ensuring that Africa does not bear the brunt of this net job loss.
“It’s not too late – we need to take action regarding this situation … In Ghana, we have initiated efforts to revitalize [education and training], and the synergy between TVET and STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics] is pivotal in transforming this sector in Ghana.”
Ghana has successfully achieved "gender parity and gender opportunity" in education by making secondary schooling accessible to all at no cost. The nation has made significant investments in teacher training and educational infrastructure, including the establishment of STEM schools aimed specifically at girls.
H.E. Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, the AU’s Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, emphasized the importance of African nations investing in STEM education, digital skills, entrepreneurial training, and modern infrastructure to unlock the transformative potential of educational and vocational training. He remarked, “We cannot prepare our future generations for the 21st century using 19th-century infrastructure.”
Nevertheless, there exists a substantial funding gap that must be addressed by the private sector and development partners. According to UNESCO, African countries require an additional USD 77 billion annually to meet their Sustainable Development Goal 4 (education) targets by 2030. Prof. Belhocine stated, “We need to collaborate to advocate for increased financing to elevate our education system to the desired level in the coming years.”
He highlighted that out of 550 million school-aged children in Africa, 100 million are not enrolled in any educational institution. “These young individuals, brimming with energy and potential, will form the workforce of our continent and the world. Therefore, investing in Africa's youth is an investment in the global workforce of tomorrow, not just for Africa,” he noted.
Mr. Symerre Grey-Johnson, Director of Human Capital and Institutional Development at AUDA-NEPAD, stressed the necessity for “a skills revolution in Africa.” He pointed out that achieving this goal requires AUDA-NEPAD and other development agencies to invest in small, medium, and micro-enterprises within both formal and informal economies, equipping them with digital and financial literacy skills to ensure their success.
“We need to reskill and retool that sector of the economy,” he said. “We have to focus on the right occupations, to ensure that supply meets demand.”
Panelists from various African Union Member States presented innovative skills development strategies that their governments are implementing. These exemplary practices include establishing centers of excellence for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), providing free tuition at technical institutions, transforming polytechnics into technical universities, recruiting skilled professionals—not just academics—to teach technical disciplines, and performing labor market assessments to understand private sector requirements. They unanimously agreed that the negative perception surrounding TVET education must be eliminated.
In a conversation about collaboration to improve skills development, employment, and quality work, Mr. Peter Thiele (Director of Vocational Education and Training for Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research) highlighted the advantages of transnational cooperation in TVET across Europe, proposing that a similar model could be beneficial among African nations.
He pointed out that despite the economic disparities among European countries, the region has established unified TVET standards and transnational centers of excellence that collaborate across borders. "It may also be worth considering the feasibility of transcontinental cooperation in this area, focusing on key issues of mutual interest in Africa and other global regions, where we can engage on equal terms and outline a shared agenda for TVET," Mr. Thiele remarked.