This chapter analyses how digital skills affect jobs and productivity in East Africa (Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda). First, the chapter outlines the region’s overall educational outcomes, occupational structures and migration trends. Second, it analyses the supply of, demand for and provision of digital skills. Third, the chapter discusses the expansion of Internet access and digital education, country-specific skill provision and regional integration of digital skills development as priority policy recommendations.
Africa's Development Dynamics 2024
Skills, Jobs and Productivity
Africa’s Development Dynamics
Chapter 5. Digital skills in East Africa
Abstract
In Brief
East Africa can make better use of its economic growth for skills development. The region’s labour productivity is below the African average, even though East Africa boasts the fastest economic growth of all the continent’s regions. Over three-quarters of workers are in unskilled occupations in agriculture and trade. The average duration of schooling is 6.7 years – the same as for Africa as a whole. Learning-adjusted years of education vary widely across the region, ranging from 2.5 years in South Sudan to 9.7 years in Seychelles.
The unprecedented development of digital skills has provided an opportunity to boost productivity in East Africa, but progress has been highly uneven. The digitalisation of firms and economies has driven both the supply of and demand for basic digital skills in most East African countries. Intermediate and advanced skill supply and demand remain confined to specific sectors, like finance, health, energy, agriculture, transport and infrastructure. Specialised and digital entrepreneurial skills are lacking throughout the region, with Nairobi as an exception. A rise in digital service exports is creating a growing demand for intermediate and advanced digital skills from online labour.
Digital skill provision varies widely across East African countries. Countries where digitalisation has advanced are now offering specialised and sector-specific digital skills, especially through technical and vocational training and education institutions. However, barriers like low enrolment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics persist. Access to training remains unequal throughout the region, with a lack of focus on providing skills to informal workers, women and youth.
Policies to improve digital skills development in East Africa can focus on three priorities:
1. Expand Internet access and integrate digital skills into education to increase the supply of and demand for basic digital skills
2. Target intermediate and advanced digital skill provision towards country-specific needs and global demand
3. Enhance regional integration of digital markets, infrastructure and skill provision to improve conditions for digital skills development and digital entrepreneurship.
Digital skills in East Africa (infographic)
Regional profile
Figure 5.1. Vulnerable employment, labour productivity and education spending in East Africa, 2000-22
Note: Vulnerable employment includes formal and informal self-employed (own-account) workers and contributing family members but excludes informal salaried employees. As an approximation of informal employment, it is used here to show long-term trends, as time series data on informal employment are missing for most African countries. Labour productivity is measured as the constant gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017 international USD at purchasing power parity (PPP) prices, divided by the population of employed people in thousands.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on ILOSTAT (2023[1]), ILO Modelled Estimates (database), https://ilostat.ilo.org/fr/; World Bank (2023[2]), World Development Indicators (database), https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators; and IMF (2023[3]), World Economic Outlook (database), https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO.
Figure 5.2. Breakdown of working population by type of occupation in East Africa, 2021
Note: “Technicians” include associate professionals, “Skilled elementary occupations” include skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers and elementary occupations, and “Operators and assemblers” include plant and machine operators and assemblers. No data were available for Seychelles.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on ILOSTAT (2023[1]), ILO Modelled Estimates (database), https://ilostat.ilo.org/fr/.
Most workers in East Africa are in vulnerable employment and unskilled occupations, and the quality of education varies widely across countries
Despite significant economic growth, East Africa’s labour productivity is below the African average, and the region has a high rate of vulnerable employment. East Africa continues to be the African region with the fastest economic growth (4.9% in 2020-22, compared to 4.4% for Africa as a whole). Yet, labour productivity has stagnated for more than 15 years, increasing only marginally from USD 7 057 per worker in 2006 to USD 7 608 in 2022. This is the second lowest value of all African regions, only above Central Africa at USD 5 712, and less than half of the African average of USD 15 902. In 2021, 65% of workers in East Africa were in vulnerable employment (self-employed or unpaid family workers) (Figure 5.1), compared to 33% for North Africa and 75% for West Africa.
The great majority of workers in East Africa are in unskilled occupations in agriculture and trade, while rural-urban and gender divides vary widely across countries. About 76% of workers in East Africa are in unskilled occupations. The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector continues to employ by far the most workers (58% in 2021, down from 70% in 2000), followed by retail and wholesale trade (11%) and manufacturing (6%) (Figure 5.3). Rural-urban divides are starkest in Ethiopia, Rwanda and Madagascar (where the shares of workers in skilled occupations are 31, 18 and 16 percentage points (pp) higher, respectively, in urban than in rural areas). Gender divides are highest in Uganda (where the share of male workers in skilled occupations is 13 pp higher than female), Kenya (11 pp) and Tanzania (11 pp).
Figure 5.3. Percentage of workers in skilled occupations in East Africa, by gender and place of residence, 2019 or latest year available
Note: Data are drawn from nationally representative demographic and health surveys (DHS) collected between 2010 and 2019. Occupational categories were divided into skilled and unskilled occupations as follows: skilled occupations include professional, technical, managerial, clerical and skilled manual work; unskilled occupations include sales, agriculture, household and domestic work, services and unskilled manual labour.
Source: USAID (2019[5]), Demographic and Health (DHS) Surveys (2010-19) (database), https://www.statcompiler.com/en/.
The majority of workers in East Africa do not have the levels of education required for their occupations. Undereducation is particularly stark in Comoros, Djibouti, Sudan and Tanzania. Under- and overeducation affect women and men across the region to similar extents (59% vs. 55% for undereducation; 12% vs. 11% for overeducation). However, self-employed workers are much more likely to be undereducated than salaried employees (64% vs. 46%), while the latter are more likely to be overeducated (9% of self-employed workers vs. 16% of employees) (Figure 5.4).
Figure 5.4. Percentage of workers who have an equal, higher or lower level of education than required for their occupation in East Africa, 2022 or latest year available
Note: (Mis)matches are assessed through the normative approach by comparing educational requirements set out in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) for each one-digit ISCO occupational group with the level of education of each person in employment. Calculations are based on data collected in national labour force statistics or other nationally representative household surveys with a module on employment. No data were available for Eritrea, Ethiopia, Seychelles, Somalia and South Sudan.
Source: Authors’ compilation based on ILOSTAT (2023[6]), ILO Education and Mismatch Indicators (database), https://ilostat.ilo.org/.
The level and quality of education in East Africa are on par with the African average; however, lacking data may mask stark differences within the region.
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The average duration of schooling is 6.7 years in East Africa, the same as for Africa as a whole. Adjusted for the quality of education, however, the duration decreases by over one year, to 5.6 years. This is half a year above the adjusted value for the continent (5.1 years), but around 2 years below developing Asia (7.2 years) and Latin America and the Caribbean (7.8 years). Given missing data for Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia, the region’s actual average could be significantly lower (Figure 5.5).
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Learning-adjusted years of education vary widely across the region, from just 2.5 years in South Sudan to 9.7 years in Seychelles (Figure 5.5). The percentage of adults aged 15 and over found to be illiterate in South Sudan and Ethiopia were 68% and 48%, respectively, compared to 4% and 9% in Seychelles and Mauritius.
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If education systems could be improved to a point where all children reach a basic level of fundamental skills (corresponding to Level 1 of the international PISA test), the gross domestic product (GDP) of East African countries would increase by an average of 4% per year by 2100, equivalent to a total added value of USD 26 trillion.
Figure 5.5. Average years of schooling and learning-adjusted years of schooling in East Africa, 2020
Note: LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean. Learning-adjusted years of schooling merge the quantity and quality of education into one metric, reflecting that similar durations of schooling can yield different learning outcomes. See Filmer et al. (2020[7]) for the detailed methodology. No data were available for Djibouti, Eritrea and Somalia.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on World Bank (2023[8]), Education Statistics – All Indicators (database), https://databank.worldbank.org/source/education-statistics-%5E-all-indicators.
East Africa has the greatest rate of highly educated emigration in Africa, and Seychelles has the most non-African immigrant workers. With more than 2 million tertiary-educated (“highly educated”) East Africans residing abroad in 2020, the region has the highest rate in the continent (Chapter 1). Seychelles has the highest rate of highly educated emigration in the region. The country is also the top destination for migrant workers immigrating from outside the continent. East African emigrant workers with secondary education or less tend to come from Seychelles, Eritrea, South Sudan and Mauritius, in that order (Figure 5.6).
Figure 5.6. Migrants by level of education, origin and destination (East Africa, 2020)
Note: Migrants per 1 000 inhabitants. Negative numbers show emigration. “Low-educated” refers to individuals with secondary or lower education. “High-educated” refers to those with tertiary or higher education.
Source: World Bank (2023[9]), Global Bilateral Migration (database), https://databank.worldbank.org/source/global-bilateral-migration and World Bank Group (2023[10]), World Development Report (2023), https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/102109.
Digital skills development is advancing in East Africa but unevenly across countries
The digital economy has grown fast in some East African countries, but lacking global market integration and uneven digital adoption reveal the need to further develop digital skills in the region. East Africa has made digitalisation core to its overall development agenda, with Kenya standing out as a continental forerunner (Dupoux et al., 2022[11]). While digitalisation has been progressing fast in many countries, the region’s aspirations to tap into global digital markets, through business process outsourcing, for instance, have mostly not materialised. The adoption of productivity-enhancing digital technologies has remained patchy across the region. Shortages of and gaps in digital skills are in part responsible for these missed opportunities (Caribou Digital Institute, 2024[12]; Melia, 2020[13]).
Digital skills development in East African countries is highly diverse, depending largely on their readiness to adopt information and communications technology (ICT). ICT readiness refers to a country’s pre-conditions for developing its digital economy and closely relates to its overall level of digital skills development. ICT readiness depends on digital access, uptake and associated skill provision (Cisco, 2024[14]; UNCTAD, 2021[15]). East African countries can be divided into three clusters, according to their digital economic advancement (see AUC/OECD (2023[16]) (Table 5.1):
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Cluster 1: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia. These countries have larger GDP and GDP growth, high Internet access rates, explicit digital economy strategies, and significant untapped human capital. As their economies digitalise, the demand for digitally skilled workers is projected to grow fast. These countries’ capital cities have sizable digital entrepreneurship ecosystems.
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Cluster 2: Mauritius and Seychelles. Mauritius is an upper-middle-income country, and Seychelles is a high-income country. Both have relatively small populations and advanced human capital, digital and complementary infrastructure, mature digital policies, and governance.
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Cluster 3: Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Madagascar, Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan. These countries offer relatively fewer market opportunities and face significant ICT readiness barriers, often exacerbated by conflicts.
Table 5.1. East African countries clustered according to digital economy advancement
Note: AI = Artificial intelligence. GB = Gigabyte. GDP = Growth domestic product. PPP = Purchasing power parity. ICT = Information and communication technology.
Source: Oxford Insights (2023[17]), Government AI Readiness Index (database), https://oxfordinsights.com/ai-readiness/ai-readiness-index/; Demirgüç-Kunt et al. (2022[18]), The Global Findex Database 2021: Financial Inclusion, Digital Payments, and Resilience in the Age of COVID-19 (database), https://doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-1897-4; AUC/OECD (2021[19]), Africa’s Development Dynamics 2021: Digital Transformation for Quality Jobs, https://doi.org/10.1787/0a5c9314-en, for the share of the population that can afford 1 gigabyte of mobile data monthly; Wiley (2021[20]), Digital Skills Gap Index 2021, https://dsgi.wiley.com/; Choi, Dutz and Usman (2020[21]), The Future of Work in Africa: Harnessing the Potential of Digital Technologies for All, https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/511511592867036615/pdf/The-Future-of-Work-in-Africa-Harnessing-the-Potential-of-Digital-Technologies-for-All.pdf, for ICT Readiness scores. Data on Inflows to tech startups are sourced from the literature.
The supply of and demand for different levels of digital skills vary across East African countries, depending on the advancement of a country’s digital economy. Digital skills can be divided into three levels: basic (e.g. smartphone use and e-mail), intermediate (e.g. use of multiple devices and professional social media) and advanced (e.g. web design, data science) (Chapter 1). Overall, East African countries with lower ICT readiness have a lower supply of and demand for digital skills. For example, Tanzania scores 3.3 out of 10 on Wiley’s Digital Skills Gap Index 2021,1 but only 1.7% of its youth are employed in digital skill-reliant work, compared to 3.2% in Kenya and 5.6% in Nigeria (Makaro, 2023[22]).
Digital skill supply is rising across most East African countries, while advanced and entrepreneurial skills remain scarce
Fast Internet access and adoption of digital applications like mobile money has increased the digital skill supply in some East African countries. The arrival of fast Internet in several countries in the region has allowed informal workers to develop digital literacy (Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]). East Africa also boasts world-leading registration figures for mobile money accounts (1 106 per 1 000 adults vs. 600 for Africa, 533 for developing Asia and 245 for Latin America and the Caribbean) (StearsData, 2024[23]). In Madagascar, the recent graduation of hundreds of new software engineers (Ericsson, 2024) coincided with its expansion of 4G and 5G networks. However, where access to broadband and smartphones is limited, digital literacy and related skill supply are also limited (Gottschalk and Weise, 2023[24]). High Internet costs reduce households’ and firms’ adoption of digital technologies. The share of the East African population who can afford one gigabyte of mobile Internet data was only a third (34%) in 2020 (AUC/OECD, 2021[19]). As a result, workers in many East African countries have scarce basic digital skills: 33% of Mauritius’ population over 15 years old possess basic skills, compared to 16% in Djibouti and 4% in South Sudan.2
The improving supply of digital skills can facilitate productivity gains in organisations across East Africa. These skills include digital literacy and data analytics in public, private and third sector organisations (TradeMarkAfrica, 2023[25]; Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]). Notably, e-commerce platforms can boost the productivity of the region’s farmers and small traders, by helping them access new customers, share insights and improve their use of digital applications such as mobile money and social media (Caribou Digital Institute, 2024[12]; Begazo, Blimpo and Dutz, 2023[26]).
Productivity among Uganda’s 27 000 health workers improved following the government’s introduction of the mTrac mobile application that facilitated the development of digital literacy and related skills (Bastos de Morais, 2017[27]).
Low investment in research and development (R&D), low science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) enrolment, and limited university infrastructure are hampering the supply of advanced digital skills across the region. From 2000-16, East Africa spent only 0.27% on R&D, far below the African Union’s Agenda 2063 target of 1% and much farther below the OECD countries’ 2.5% (AUC/OECD, 2019[28]). This contributes to the shortages of advanced digital skills, including quality engineering talent (Mia, 2024[29]; Dupoux et al., 2022[11]; UNESCO/Huawei Technologies, 2022[30]). In addition, the low tertiary enrolment in STEM subjects, higher enrolment costs for students, and a relative lack of STEM-related educators with up-to-date knowledge and pedagogic skills contribute to a short supply of digital skills. Ill-equipped local universities and educational institutions (e.g. lacking powerful computers and servers) also play a role (Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]). However, well-designed and resourced initiatives can counter this trend (Box 5.1).
Box 5.1. Advancing artificial intelligence and high-end digital skills in Seychelles
Seychelles Innovation HUB, launched in 2018, has become the epicentre of the island nation’s artificial intelligence (AI) ecosystem and an incubator for start-ups and entrepreneurs. The hub has attracted significant private sector interest, assisted by Seychelles’ reputation for regulatory discipline and ranking as Africa’s third best for ICT readiness and 68th in the Global AI Readiness Index 2020. Firms that have joined the hub include Accenture, with its AI-focused innovation centre, and financial technology (fintech) companies, such as CoinFlex, Prime XBT and LetsExchange. Seychelles’ fintech sector boasts two unicorns, KuCoin and Scroll, with a market capitalisation of approximately USD 945 million and USD 4.8 billion, respectively (CoinMarketCap, 2024[31]; CoinBrain, 2024[32]). The hub’s Generative AI section hosts Travizory, a Seychellois technology pioneer credited with digital tools compliant with the International Civil Aviation Organization and the United Nations Security Council. This firm aims to improve data protection and Internet access through AI, so far serving over 4 million passengers by allowing easy verification of nearly 15 million documents.
Source: Mia (2024[29]), “Seychelles’ thriving artificial intelligence ecosystem”, https://capmad.com/technology-en/seychelles-thriving-artificial-intelligence-ecosystem/.
Digital entrepreneurial skills are in short supply in most East African countries. Digital startups are creating a wide range of digital products (applications and software, digital media, fintech, e-commerce, tourism, and sport) (Begazo, Blimpo and Dutz, 2023[26]; Bosson et al., 2022[33]). However, with the exception of Kenya, digital entrepreneurial skills (i.e. an understanding of how to operate and grow a digital venture and how to do so in a given local context) are limited across East African countries. The lack of such skills stems from the typically limited size and maturity of digital entrepreneurship ecosystems. As a result, experienced mentors are similarly scarce, limiting the development potential of young digital entrepreneurs (Friederici, Wahome and Graham, 2020[34]).
The digitalisation of East African firms and economies is driving the demand for digital skills, especially basic skills
As East Africa’s economies have digitalised, the demand for digital skills has risen. About 87% of African business leaders identify digital literacy for enhancing productivity as a priority area for further investment (Dupoux et al., 2022[11]). Larger corporations, governments and start-ups have driven the demand for digitally skilled workers across East Africa. Key sectors include fintech, education, health, energy, agriculture, transport and infrastructure, information technology (IT) and business process outsourcing, international trade, tourism, manufacturing, forestry and land management, and building and construction (IFC, 2024[35]; Sandbox, 2024[36]; IFC, 2021[37]). The imperative to digitalise work processes to enable remote working and service delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this trend. Projections indicate that Kenya and Rwanda will require, respectively, USD 1.5 billion and USD 0.3 billion to train their existing workforce in digital skills and USD 1.3 billion and USD 0.2 billion to train new workers over the 2019-30 period.
Demand is greatest for basic digital skills, while intermediate and advanced skill demand is growing more slowly and in specific sectors. In Kenya, for example, 32.7 million jobs are projected to require digital skills by 2030: 65% (21.4 million jobs) with basic digital skills, 29% (9.6 million jobs) with intermediate digital skills and 5% (1.7 million jobs) with advanced digital skills. The corresponding figures for Rwanda’s smaller but fast-growing market are 6.5 million jobs requiring digital jobs by 2030, with 69% (4.5 million jobs) at the basic level, 29% (1.9 million jobs) at the intermediate level and 1.5% (0.1 million jobs) at the advanced level (IFC, 2021[37]). Madagascar is projected to create 140 000 jobs requiring digital skills by 2027 (IFC, 2024[35]). In Mauritius, the tourism industry is demanding advanced digital skills, specifically for web designers.
The lack of advanced digital workers, such as software engineers, is hampering the growth of digital firms in the region. Increased demand for intermediate and advanced digital skills arises from new digital ventures, for instance, in fintech (Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub, 2024[38]). Digital enterprises typically depend on highly skilled, creative knowledge workers, including software engineers, designers, product developers, project managers, data scientists, social media managers as well as entrepreneurial workers. However, software engineers, who would be able to build compelling digital products, master coding languages, co-shape a venture’s strategy and lead teams of junior developers, are often unaffordable or inaccessible for local digital firms. Some local ventures resort to recruiting talent from high-income countries or outsourcing software development (mostly to India and sometimes to Europe) but typically at a significant cost (Friederici, Wahome and Graham, 2020[34]).
Increased digital service exports indicate a growing demand for East African workers with intermediate and advanced digital skills, working remotely for firms around the world. East African digital service providers (e.g. for customer support) have created a demand for digitally skilled remote workers (Melia, 2020[13]). In Kenya, the regional leader, ICT services generated significant export revenue (USD 629 million) in 2019 (UNCTADstat, 2023[39]), with an additional 1 million business process outsourcing jobs expected by 2028 (Mwangi, 2023[40]). Four other countries also generated significant export revenues from ICT services in 2019-20: Ethiopia (USD 123 million), Madagascar (USD 128 million), Mauritius (USD 124 million) and Djibouti (USD 113 million) (Figure 5.7). Sought-after digital skills include intermediate (e.g. web design, social media account creation) and advanced (e.g. software engineering).
Figure 5.7. Export of services in information and communications technology by selected East African countries
Source: Authors’ calculation based on UNCTADstat (2023[39]), FDI Online Database (database), https://unctadstat.unctad.org/datacentre/.
Job displacements due to digital upskilling and automation are likely to affect East Africa to only a limited extent. East Africa’s formal labour markets are not immune to the risks of outdated skills and large-scale job displacements associated with automation, AI and increasing digital skills requirements. However, the effects of these developments are expected to be modest, as they are unlikely to replace as many jobs in East Africa as in more industrialised areas of the world (Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]). In furniture production in Kenya, for example, data indicate that robots will become more cost-competitive than workers in 2034, 11 years later than in the United States, due to lower labour costs and higher operational costs for robots (Banga and Willem, 2018[41]).
East Africa’s advanced economies provide more specialised digital skills, while inclusive provision is missing throughout the region
Digital skills training varies greatly in depth and specialisation across East African countries. Desk research across all East African countries suggests that digital skills training opportunities are heavily concentrated in Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 countries. A wide array of public and private, local and international funders and providers are offering digital skills training (Table 5.2). The region’s growing population of STEM and ICT graduates, particularly in Cluster 1 countries, further reflects this increased focus (World Bank, 2023[42]; UNESCO/Huawei Technologies, 2022[30]).
Table 5.2. Examples of digital skills training providers in East Africa
Note: N/A = Non-applicable.
Source: Authors’ compilation.
Most technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions that offer digital skills training are in Cluster 1 and Cluster 2 countries and focus on applying digital skills to various technical sectors. Among the 14 TVET institutions identified for the present analysis,3 only 2 were in Cluster 3 countries (Madagascar and Sudan). Across the 12 countries in Clusters 1 and 2, most (9) integrated digital skills in training courses targeting technical skills in a variety of sectors and occupations, especially in automotive (4), engineering (4) and electronics (3). TVET programmes run by local universities, tertiary education institutions, development partners and not-for-profits tend to offer intermediate and advanced digital skills training to young people, while private sector programmes address a wider audience for skills ranging from basic to advanced, notably through online training.
Digital skill provision tailored to children is scarce, and women are often under-represented. Primary school teachers often lack the capacity necessary to help children gain basic digital skills, for instance, in Somalia (Khalif, 2023[43]) and Uganda (UNDP, 2023[44]). Women represent only 30% of the region’s ICT graduate population, a major source of digital skill supply (Begazo, Blimpo and Dutz, 2023[26]). In Kenya, for example, although 41% of students surveyed across the country’s universities were women, just 17% were pursuing degrees in science and technology subjects (Mbogho, 2017[45]). Fewer than 20% of digital sector workers in Kenya are female.
The #SheGoesDigital programme offers a 40-day training course in social media and digital marketing to financially disadvantaged Kenyan women, followed by internships with relevant companies.
The Indo-Africa Internship Programme selects promising East African IT graduates, prioritising young women, for three- to six-month internships with Indian companies (ITC, 2018[46]).
While scarce, entrepreneurship training and apprenticeships provide workers with practical, relevant digital skills. Training offered within mainstream educational curricula can close gaps in the region’s supply of entrepreneurial skills and analytical capabilities with regard to digital technologies, for instance, the ability to apply data and insights to real-world decision-making (Dupoux et al., 2022[11]; Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]). However, Kenya (UNESCO/Huawei Technologies, 2022[30]), Madagascar (IFC, 2024[35]) and Uganda (Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]) have been found to be lacking in this regard. Apprenticeship programmes can equip workers with in-demand digital skills, but limited policy support and incentives often result in low private sector participation in those programmes (UNESCO/Huawei Technologies, 2022[30]). Exceptions are Kenya,4 Rwanda5 and Uganda,6 which have established national apprenticeship programmes. Such training programmes have been shown to effectively enhance the job prospects of participants, leading to a decrease in unemployment rates and an increase in earnings (David and Schoar, 2021[47]).
Digital (web design and digital graphics) and entrepreneurial skills, gained from Strathmore University incubation centre, iBiz Africa, helped Nairobi-based Purpink to grow into a successful, award-winning business. The company, which offers customers co-created personalised gifts via its digital platforms, is expanding to other Kenyan and East African cities, including Kampala (Strathmore University, 2024[48]).
The Digital Opportunity Trust’s Digital Jobs Programme provides training, including through peer mentors, to over 1 000 participants in software products that are in demand in the Tanzanian workplace and via online freelancing. Several programme participants saw their monthly income grow by 20% due to new digitally enabled work opportunities (DOT Tanzania, 2024[49]).
Green digital skills training for specific entities is growing in importance. Continuing digitalisation of the green sector is expanding demand for workers with green digital skills or with skills for building sustainable digital solutions (INCO Academy, 2024[50]). Data centres, smart grids, digital wind farms, digital hydropower stations and operational efficiency applications are examples of entities that require workers with data analytics and specific engineering skills. Green digital skill certificate programmes offered freely by Microsoft and LinkedIn-backed INCO Academy (2024[50]), for example, are equipping trainees, typically from digital backgrounds, with complementary green-specific skills to facilitate access to green jobs.
Jomo Kenyatta University’s agricultural incubator seeks to train a digitally skilled green labour force to achieve global competitiveness and thrive in the 21st-century digital landscape (JKUAT, 2024[51]).
East African countries require specific strategies to develop digital skills based on national levels of supply and demand
Beyond expanding Internet access, East African countries can benefit from country-specific digital skills development strategies that determine targeted skill provision and promote regional collaboration. East African countries have already implemented wide-ranging digital policies (Table 5.3), including those afflicted by conflict (Box 5.2). To reap the maximum benefits of digital skills development for jobs and productivity, East African countries can pursue three complementary policy priorities:
1. Expand Internet access and integrate digital skills into education to increase the supply of and demand for basic digital skills.
2. Targeting intermediate and advanced digital skill provision towards country-specific needs and global demand.
3. Enhance regional integration of digital markets, infrastructure and skills development to improve conditions for digital skills development and digital entrepreneurship.
Table 5.3. Digital policy and regulatory frameworks in East Africa
Source: Authors’ compilation.
Box 5.2. Digital skills policies in least developed countries affected by conflict in East Africa
Somalia is beset by low literacy rates, limited Internet access and teacher training deficiencies. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, catalysed innovation in distance learning programmes (UNESCO, 2023[52]).
South Sudan lacks a dedicated ICT Act, ICT in Education/EdTech Act or competency framework for teachers. However, its revised national education strategy, development strategy and curriculum framework cover digital skill provision (Republic of South Sudan, 2017[53]). The framework aims to integrate ICT into the curriculum from early childhood to Grade 8 and to develop competencies such as critical and creative thinking, communication, and multimedia digital and soft skills (Republic of South Sudan, n.d.[54]).
Sudan’s vision for education prioritises electronic education and investments to develop computer labs in schools, but no digital competency framework or STEM focus exists. The country’s COVID-19 response supported digital learning and requisite digital skills training for teachers (UNESCO, 2022[55]).
Expanding Internet access and integrating digital skills into education can increase the supply of and demand for basic digital skills in East Africa
Greater Internet access, market regulations and digital infrastructure investments are foundational to increasing East Africa’s digital skill supply and demand. For digital skills, in-country supply and demand are closely interconnected and depend on the degree of digital transformation in specific sectors and in the country overall. Given the significant spillover effects on productivity, expanding Internet access to excluded populations is a priority for all East African countries. Internet access could be made more affordable through enhanced competition and better management of public telecom assets, including more transparent rules on licensing and market dominance, infrastructure access and sharing (Begazo, Blimpo and Dutz, 2023[26]). In addition, digital infrastructure investments can also attract both local and international private investments, as well as contributions from development partners (Dupoux et al., 2022[11]).
Regional digital infrastructure projects, such as the African Development Bank’s USD 2 billion investment or the World Bank’s USD 130 million Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project Series, promise to drive down digital access costs through economies of scale.
Integrating digital skills training into early childhood education is cost-effective, especially if financed through innovative funding approaches. East Africa’s constrained fiscal space and debt profile (particularly in Comoros, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya and South Sudan) demand difficult trade-offs in the provision of digital skills (AfDB, 2023[56]). Investments in early childhood education is an essential first step for such countries, as it allows them to address the high demand for basic and intermediate skills (Chapter 1). As a financing option, innovative funding approaches can be effective by mobilising blended finance from public, private and international partners (see Table 5.4 for examples of such policies).
Since 2021, UNICEF has been testing digital learning solutions across 93 learning centres in remote areas of Sudan. Their methods include stories and videos to explain the exercises to children, backed with digital equipment such as solar-powered tablets. Results show that participants outperformed traditional learners in learning outcomes by 1.7 times (UNICEF, 2023[57]).
The Madagascar-based start-up Jirogasy is collaborating with Aceleron, a United Kingdom developer of circular economy lithium-ion batteries, to deliver solar-powered Madagascan-built computers to 10 000 children a year across schools in Madagascar and East Africa (Envirotech, 2021[58]).
Table 5.4. Examples of inclusive digital skills development initiatives in East Africa
Source: Authors’ compilation.
Effective school-to-work initiatives can both improve youth’s digital skills development and fill firms’ labour shortages. Internships and on-the-job training can be win-win strategies for firms and students: they expose youth to higher level skills, and they can address shortages in the digital sector, such as in active digital hubs in Nairobi. Cluster 1 countries increasingly promote such programmes. Cluster 3 countries, such as Somalia, particularly need such skills development partnerships to help reduce skill mismatches and facilitate students’ transition into graduate jobs (Aylaw, 2023[59]).
Kenya’s President Digital Talent Program is designed to develop future government leaders skilled in digital technology. Over a 12-month period, interns receive specialised training in digital skills and project management, gaining practical experience with 10 months in government roles and 2 months in private firms (UNESCO/Huawei Technologies, 2022[30]).
Intermediate and advanced digital skill provision can be targeted towards country-specific opportunities and global demand
Data-driven skill assessments can inform policy makers of intermediate and advanced digital skills gaps. Demand for intermediate and advanced digital skills arises mainly from high-productivity sectors and global markets. Strengthened labour market information systems and dedicated analysis of job vacancy data can help policy makers identify emerging skill needs and gaps (Chapter 2). Digital skills are particularly well suited to be assessed through big data and job vacancy data. East African policy makers can use these approaches to identify digital skill gaps in priority sectors and determine the most effective digital skill provision measures at the national level (e.g. sensors and AI in agriculture, machine learning in fintech).
Mauritius’ Strategic Plan 2030 foresees the development of an advanced digital ecosystem and “technopreneurial” spirit through funding 50 yearly scholarships in blockchain technology (Republic of Mauritius, 2020[60]).
Targeting TVET can expand the digital skill supply. Policy support for TVET institutions can contribute to meeting the demand for digital skills training opportunities. Additional support for TVET and secondary education institutions can greatly increase the region’s supply of intermediate digital skills (IFC, 2021[37]). International partners can help create or improve accredited TVET courses aligned to employers’ needs through public-private alliances.
Uganda, sponsored by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has established the Nakawa Vocational Training College to provide vocational courses in electrical engineering and automobile engineering.
Rwanda’s TVET institution IPRC Tumba, financed by JICA and the Agence Française de Développement, in collaboration with the local government and the private sector, is a hub for training in advanced digital skills to be employed in the digital sector, in electrical and electronics engineering and in mechanical engineering (IPRC Tumba, 2024[61]).
The Rwanda Coding Academy (RCA) is a unique educational institution that combines elements of general education and TVET. Launched in January 2019, RCA specialises in teaching advanced digital skills such as software development, embedded systems programming and cybersecurity (IFC, 2021[37]).
Strengthened collaboration between academia and industry can help universities produce graduates with market-ready digital skills. Skilled practitioners as adjunct lecturers allow industry-driven training and practice-oriented pedagogy. Industry advisory committees, comprised of professionals and experts from various industries, provide guidance to tertiary education institutes on curriculum development and industry engagement programmes for faculty. East African universities, particularly those in Cluster 3 countries, still lag behind in this respect, but successful initiatives that link academia and industry exist in the region.
Rwanda’s Innovative Digital Platform7 – financed by the Research and Innovation Systems for Africa (RISA) Fund – was launched in December 2023 and aims to reduce the skill gaps between academia and industry through improved research and consultancy, joint curriculum development, and job placement.
The East Africa Skills for Transformation and Regional Integration Project (EASTRIP), funded by the World Bank, allowed for placing over 30 faculty staff of Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology in industries as part of mutual training and work programmes (World Bank, 2023[42]).
Mauritius has planned a strategic review of training content to redress the mismatch between emerging graduates’ skills and the labour market need for software engineers.
Intensifying the development of advanced digital skills and the skills of STEM graduates can enhance East Africa’s role as a global digital hub. Investing in the development of advanced and specialised digital skills is critical for the region to supply high-end digitally skilled innovators and entrepreneurs. Cluster 1 countries particularly need to increase investments in R&D and knowledge production to generate momentum for innovation. Initiatives such as targeted support for bright STEM students can be effective, but to fill gender gaps, they need to focus on women, as only 30% of STEM graduates are female in East Africa. Educating more women would also expand the supply of experts in advanced digital skills and of STEM workers.
In 2018, UN Women and the African Union Commission, in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union, UNESCO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and UNICEF, launched the African Girls Can Code Initiative. This initiative equips African girls and women aged 17 to 25 with advanced digital skills.
Strengthening digital skills can foster the creation of digital startups and increase entrepreneurship. Strategic commitment to innovation can help advance digital upskilling and possibly lead to the development of startups (Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]) or improve digital entrepreneurship within existing businesses and organisations.
The Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub skills programme, supported by PwC, aims to equip Mauritian startups with entrepreneurial skills to scale their business and access pan-African and wider international markets (Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub, 2024[38]).
Since 2015, the Smart Duka programme, operated by TechnoServe, has provided business training and helped digitise informal micro-retailers in Kenya and Tanzania. It has also created a collaborative digital ecosystem in which shop owners operate collectively in business groups (e.g. through WhatsApp) and are connected to a supportive network of financial, technology and supply chain partners (TechnoServe, 2020[62]).
A single digital market and partnerships can drive the regional integration of digital skill supply and demand
A single regional digital market and a multi-currency digital payment facilitator could increase the development of digital skills. A unified digital market can promote seamless connectivity, harmonise regulations and facilitate cross-border payments. Creating such a market could enhance the ongoing initiatives by the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa to interconnect countries, promote digitalisation and encourage innovation (AUC/OECD, 2021[19]). The resulting larger integrated market could help expand opportunities for digital skills development, digital entrepreneurship and digital skills demand. These could boost the region’s GDP by up to USD 2.6 billion (TradeMark Africa, 2022[63]), including an increase in intra-African trade, which currently represents 30% of East Africa’s exports (Kuwonu, 2024[64]). The African Continental Free Trade Area’s agenda, including its new international and multi-currency digital payment facilitator the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System, has the potential to deepen the supply and demand dynamics for digital skills (Choi, Dutz and Usman, 2020[21]).
Through Strathmore University in Kenya, the African Union-European Union Digital for Development Hub launched the initiative Strengthening Data Protection across East Africa. The initiative allows data protection authorities and private sector representatives to exchange lessons learned, best practices, resources and guidelines (D4D Hub, 2023[65]).
To support digital startups by youth and small and medium-sized enterprises, the African Union Commission and Google have partnered to offer Digital Skills Campaigns, five-day digital skills workshops. They have so far benefited 45 young business owners, managers, entrepreneurs and students from Ethiopia and Kenya (Mpemba, 2023[66]).
Regional partnerships between tertiary research and training institutions and regional centres of excellence can nurture advanced digital skills, including through strong private sector linkages. With support from development partners, regional partnerships and centres of excellence can establish training courses for specific advanced digital skills at the regional level. Regional data centres and supranational analytic hubs require workers who have advanced and specialised digital skills (Dupoux et al., 2022[11]).
The Regional Flagship ICT Centre (RAFIC) for digital skills is one of 16 regional centres of excellence of EASTRIP. RAFIC has 1 400 graduates, 5 000 students, 180 teachers, and 60 managers and other staff. It has mentored 200 women in science and technology.
Under the EAC’s Digital Skills for an Innovative East African Industry initiative, the Inter-University Council of East Africa, the German Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and an East African-German academic consortium have partnered to provide cutting-edge digital skills training. The initiative offers a two-year Master’s programme in Embedded and Mobile Systems; it has taught digital and entrepreneurial skills to 96 students from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, 34% of them women. Also, through the initiative’s Digital Skills Accelerator courses, 150 unemployed graduates have been trained in Android Mobile Applications Development (BMZ et al., 2021[67]).
Attracting talent with advanced and specialised digital skills is essential to ensure the region’s participation in future digital advancements. Programmes aimed at the diaspora skills pool and other highly skilled individuals can significantly enhance the development of local digital technologies. Digital nomad visas, skill mobility partnerships and reintegration programmes (see Chapter 2) are crucial for attracting talent and for circulating skills.
Mauritius recently launched a digital nomad visa allowing non-citizens to live in Mauritius and work remotely for a company or client or own a business based outside the country for a year, with the option to renew the visa for a second year (Quantamnomad, 2023[68]).
Seychelles launched its Workation Retreat Program digital nomad visa in April 2021. Valid for one year and renewable for six months, it offers tax exemptions on local and personal income as well as on business taxes (VisaGuide.World, 2024[69]).
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Notes
← 1. Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are covered. Countries are ranked based on indicators in 6 pillars: (1) Digital skills institutions (including digital skills upon graduation), (2) Digital responsiveness (including responsiveness of the education system), (3) Government support (including importance of ICTs to government’s vision), (4) Supply, demand and competitiveness (including size of the STEM gender gap), (5) Data ethics and integrity (including cybersecurity performance), (6) Research intensity (including academic articles per 1 000 graduates). Indicators are normalised into scores from 0 to 100.
← 2. Authors’ calculation based on “ITU ICT SDG indicators – Proportion of youth and adults with ICT skills, by type of skills” (ITU, 2024[70]).
← 3. The complete overview of TVET programmes can be obtained upon request.