From 30th September 30 to 3rd October, policymakers, educators, industry leaders, and development partners from across the continent will gather for the Skills for Jobs Africa Policy Academy. The event is jointly organised by the World Bank in partnership with the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA).
The Academy aims to address the widening skills gap that threatens to stall growth, widen inequality, and leave millions of young people unprepared for the future of work in Africa.
Every month, more than one million young Africans enter the labour market with limited prospects for gainful employment. The problem is further compounded by the mismatch between what schools and training institutions deliver and what industries demand.
Currently, 86 percent of jobs on the continent are concentrated in the informal sector, spanning small informal businesses, self-employment, and subsistence agriculture. While this sector contributes nearly half of Africa’s total economic output, equipping youth with the skills to thrive in it remains a formidable challenge. On the other hand, the formal wage sector accounts for just 14 percent of employment and is largely dominated by the public sector. Multinational firms often import high-level talent rather than source it locally, underscoring the weakness of domestic skills pipelines. This is further compounded by the fact that only 2 percent of African youth are enrolled in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions.
A Gathering with Purpose
The Skills for Jobs Academy is a capacity-building platform that will bring together senior policymakers from 20 countries alongside World Bank country team leaders. Each country delegation will include representatives from ministries of finance, education, and regulatory agencies, as well as the private sector.
The Academy aims to strengthen understanding of skills and economic development, address the impact of emerging trends on labour markets, equip policymakers with practical reform tools, and build peer networks for long-term collaboration.
Across, the four days, participants will engage in a mix of keynote speeches, technical panels, field visits, expos, and peer learning sessions, culminating in the development of country-specific action plans.
The Academy is expected to become a model for peer learning and reform acceleration across the Global South.
By Godwin Bonge Muhwezi, Project Communication Specialist for EASTRIP at IUCEA.
