The quality of education in Africa is low and more investment is needed to improve young people's skills, argues the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Development Centre in a report published today.

"Improving access to and the quality of skills development will help Africa harness the growth potential of a rapidly growing and increasingly skilled workforce of young Africans," says this year's "Africa's Development Dynamics: Skills, Employment and Productivity" report, published yesterday.

Many African economies are facing a double challenge: workers do not have the specific skills required for existing jobs and there are not enough quality jobs to encourage workers to develop their skills, says the intergovernmental organization.

"More than 80% of young Africans who attend school aspire to work in highly skilled professions, but only 8% find these jobs," he explained.

The shortage of skills, particularly in sectors such as agri-food, renewable energies and mining, is holding back private investment, he warned.

According to the research, 85% of the total projected increase in the world's working-age population by 2050 will occur in Africa.

"The working-age population (15-64) will almost double in Africa by that year, from 849 million in 2024 to 1.56 billion in 2050," he said,

Those active in the labor market will be better educated than previous generations, as the total number of young Africans completing secondary or higher education will more than double, from 103 million to 240 million, between 2020 and 2040, according to the report.

"These young people will look for work in dynamic economies. Africa's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is expected to increase from 3.2% in 2023 to 3.5% in 2024 and reach an average rate of 4.0% in 2025," says the OECD.

"It is estimated that 82% of all workers in Africa are employed in informal activities - mostly poorly paid, of low quality and with little protection," reads the report, which concluded that the quality and quantity of education in Africa remains low compared to other regions of the world.

In 2021, on average, African governments invested 3.7% of their GDP in education, or 14.5% of their total public spending, he said.

"These figures are slightly below the international benchmarks of at least 4% of GDP and 15% of total public expenditure. In 16 of the 42 African countries with data available for 2020-23, the international benchmarks were not met," he lamented.

Skills development, combined with better jobs, will increase the productivity of millions of workers, he advised.

"The report indicated that each additional year of education can increase the income of African students by up to 11.4%," he said.

The study also made several policy recommendations to help close the education and skills gap in Africa, such as increasing the quality of education through teacher training and more structured teaching.

Developing national skills strategies for emerging sectors "of high potential, specific to each African country, including the new skills required by the digital and ecological industries" and better studying the labor market, namely by promoting collaboration with the private sector to better assess the supply and demand of skills, is recommended.

The employability and productivity of informal workers, especially women, must also be improved, "through training and the recognition of acquired skills".

The report also analyzed the strategic areas in which Africa's five regions have the greatest potential to increase productivity thanks to a more qualified workforce: mining in Central and Southern Africa, digital in East Africa, renewable energies in North Africa and agri-food in West Africa. (Notícias ao Minuto )

(Photo: DR)