Africa’s workforce is expanding rapidly and becoming better educated. The continent’s working-age population will double by 2050, and the number of Africans with an upper-secondary or tertiary education will also more than double, from 103 million in 2020 to 240 million in 2040. With the right skills, a growing pool of young talent on this scale could greatly boost growth and well-being across the continent.
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Despite strong economic growth that outpaces Latin America and the Caribbean and is not far behind developing Asia, African economies are generating too few quality jobs and productivity gains. An estimated 82% of workers in Africa are employed in informal activities with mostly low pay and little job protection, compared to 56% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 73% in developing Asia. Improving the educational proficiency of young Africans, and developing that base education into applicable skills, both soft and technical, is essential for Africa to harness the benefits of its demographic dividend.
The value that labour adds to economic output is highly dependent on workers’ skills, making skill supply fundamental to economic development. Macroeconomic analysis shows that foundational skills, which are relevant for any employment and mostly attained in primary and secondary education, are especially highly correlated with economic growth.
Returns on education are particularly high in Africa, with each extra year of education potentially boosting a student’s future earnings by 8-11%, compared to 7-9% for Latin American and Caribbean countries. OECD analysis shows that equipping all African children with foundational skill levels could multiply Africa’s GDP by 22 by the end of the century.
The supply of soft skills and technical expertise in Africa is affected by limitations on access to good education and by gender and rural-urban divides. Despite increases in school enrolment, students in Africa on average benefit from two-years-worth less of schooling than in other regions. Demand for skilled workers is also restricted by Africa’s slow structural transformation. Employment growth has been confined to low-productivity sectors such as agriculture, retail trade and services, and held back by the high level of informal jobs. Only around 20% of tertiary education students completed science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM) degrees.
The digital revolution has already created large demand for digital skills, and in most African countries demand for basic digital skills is growing fast. Skill gaps are widest for intermediate digital skills where supply is more limited. Green skills will be necessary for African countries to progress on climate adaptation and mitigation and to shift to clean energy, industry and construction. It is estimated that the energy transition could create over 9 million jobs by 2030 and another 3 million by 2050.
Skill requirements and gaps vary depending on the diversity of occupations and tasks in a country. Foundational and soft skills prove more important in the most diversified African economies rather than in those where agricultural jobs dominate. Technical skills are key to support growth in nationally strategic sectors but supply is often misaligned with local demand. If workers acquire superior business skills, firms across the continent will be able to grow and improve their productivity, while informal entrepreneurs need to more easily master the wide range of skills that running a business entails.
Highly educated African workers tend to leave the continent to pursue better career opportunities elsewhere. In 2020, 74% of highly educated migrant workers opted to move to another continent, with the vast majority (98%) choosing high‑income countries as a destination.
Southern Africa has developed industries downstream of mining, such as diamond cutting, steel production, cobalt refining and electric vehicle manufacturing. Yet short supply of skilled workers inhibits development efforts, leading to an underutilisation of capacity in mining‑related manufacturing.
The Central African region boasts large reserves of strategic minerals that could be harnessed to meet growing global demand. It accounts for almost 70% of the world’s cobalt production, 30% of tantalum production and 20% of manganese production. The lack of skilled workers, infrastructure and effective governance is holding back local mineral processing and job creation.
The rapid development of digital skills in East Africa, driven by the digitalisation of firms across the region, has created an opportunity to boost productivity in many countries. However, progress is highly uneven, with intermediate and advanced skill supply and demand currently confined to specific sectors such as finance, health, energy, agriculture, transport and infrastructure.
Renewable energy has the potential to create 2.7 million jobs in North Africa, given that the region boasts the continent’s greatest potential for solar and wind power, and could become a leading exporter of green hydrogen by 2050, with a projected annual value of USD 110 billion. However, the growing demand for skills is not being met.
Jobs in West Africa’s agri-food economy are mainly concentrated in agriculture (78%) and are mainly found in rural areas (81%), including 15% in food processing, trade and out‑of‑home consumption. Developing the skills needed to grow the agri‑food sector could help the region to better integrate value chains, and take greater advantage of the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
