Introduction
“The population of all 54 countries across the African continent is estimated to reach 2 billion people by 2050. 23 out of the 27 poorest countries globally are in Africa.” (United Nations, 2023)
A data-driven approach to construction growth in sub-Saharan Africa refers to using quantitative and qualitative information to guide decision-making, planning, and implementation of construction projects and policies in the region. This approach emphasizes evidence-based strategies rather than intuition or traditional practices alone.
Skills mapping is vital for development because it provides nations, industry sectors and organizations, an understand of their workforce's capabilities, identify skill gaps, and align talent with strategic objectives and policies. It enables better decision-making in areas like training, education, succession planning, and talent management, ultimately leading to improved efficiency, productivity, and economic growth.
Why skills mapping is needed
Skills mapping is essential for strategic planning as it reveals whether a population has the relevant capabilities that align with national development goals.
Skills need to adapt the emerging digital technologies and the disruptions to employment caused by Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Key competencies in need of development to maximise value, such as technology skills or time management can be identified.
Regular data collection identifies the phenomena known as “brain drain” in which skilled resources leave their country in search of better prospects.
How skills mapping is collected
National-level skills mapping is a massive undertaking that requires coordinated effort across multiple systems.
Employment data integration - Link existing systems like unemployment databases, job placement services, and workforce development programs to capture real-time skills data from job seekers and employed workers.
Educational system mapping - Connect graduation data from universities, trade schools, and certification programs into a single source of truth.
Census and survey integration - Incorporate skills questions into national census effort and regular labour force surveys to capture broader population data.
Industry surveys and partnerships - Skills data can be aggregated with the participation of major labour associations, large employees, and professional bodies.
The sub-Saharan African skills mapping frontier
Skills data collected in Sub-Saharan Africa lacks uniformity, and is seldom disseminated, analysed and shared, limiting its usefulness.
Sub-Saharan Africa has high levels of informality in the labour market. This is one of the biggest barriers to traditional approaches to labour market information gathering and many countries are simply unable to collect data. (African Union/USAID, 2016)
Multiple challenges – including limited education budgets, inadequate infrastructure, low staff capacity, and a world’s largest and fastest growing youth population, adds to the burden of providing up-to-date TVET in sub-Saharan Africa. (European Commission, 2015)
Sub-Saharan African consists of 41 countries, each with competing resources, varying capacity and different priorities. This is exacerbated by the massive informal economy, with only one in six workers having a documented wage job.
“Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly Southern Africa, has huge potential for economic growth due to the region’s abundance of natural and mineral resources. However, the region’s institutions are still lacking knowledge, legal frameworks, robust legislation, and strategies to forecast medium to long term skill requirements.”
The lack of a centralized database and inoperable database systems are preventing integration. Skills mapping tools need to work across dozens of local languages within various countries. High migration within regions results in constant change to national skills inventories.
Educational systems often have outdated, or contain incomplete records of what skills people have versus what people have studied. The quality of qualifications between different institutions makes credentials difficult to compare. Rural areas have unique skill sets that may differ from standard skills taxonomies resulting in people under or over reporting on their skills due to cultural factors or misunderstanding of what’s being ask.
There is an element of reluctance of people to provide detailed personal information about themselves to authorities with weak institutional governance. Gender disparities mean women's skills are often undervalued or invisible.
Most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa lack the human, technical and financial resources to gather labour market information on a regular basis. Botswana’s first Labour Force and Manpower Survey took place in 2005, and its next was not scheduled until 2015. Kenya’s first survey took place in 1999 and scheduled a follow up in 2016. (African Union/USAID, 2016)
The region faces economic uncertainties, environmental problems, and has the world’s lowest educational attainment and literacy rates are the structural context for TVET provision in sub-Saharan Africa. (Brookings, 2022)
A study of 41 Sub-Saharan Africa countries showed that only eight (Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) had conducted a labour force survey since 1990, while only two (Namibia and South Africa) had engaged in more than two waves of data collection. (Brookings, 2020)
Sub-Saharan African has a shortage of qualified and trained labour market statisticians and economists able to analyse labour market data for policy direction. (African Union/USAID, 2016)
In many African countries, labour market data collected by statistical departments is not shared with ministries in charge of operations, such as the Ministry of Education or Labour. (African Union/USAID, 2016)
Solutions to skills mapping
Sub-Saharan Africa embraces National Qualifications Frameworks (NQFs) to strengthen recognition of formal, non-formal and informal learning.
With 63% of people in the region having access to 4G networks (2023), self-reporting surveys could be conducted over mobile-phones. Surveys could integrate with existing programs such as microfinance, mobile money systems, unemployment agencies and social grant schemes.
Community based mapping can happen with the help of community leaders and NGOs who facilitate the collection of data.
The broadening of Skills Initiative for Africa (SIFA), which is an initiative of the African Union Commission supported by the German Government to strengthen occupational prospects of young people in Africa.
Integration of new qualifications and competencies in Sub-Saharan Africa
Up to 85.8% of all working people in sub-Saharan Africa sustain themselves in informal jobs. Often, these workers receive lower wages and lack a social security net. (ILO, 2020)
Many Sub-Saharan countries have either implemented or are in the process of implementing NQFs to shift from ‘knowledge-based’ to ‘competency-based’ curricula, and to integrate new qualifications and competencies into Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centres (TVET).
The African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) conducted a mapping study of 41 Sub-Sahara Africa countries in 2021. Of these countries, a little over 50% had an approved NQF, 20% were in the process of developing an NQF, and a further 20% were planning to develop an NQF. Only 3 countries had no NQF in the planning stage (ACQF 2021)
Qualification frameworks promote the transparency and recognition of new and existing qualifications and competencies by classifying them according to set criteria and levels. Frameworks that are transparent will strengthen the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) processes that validates skills acquired informally or non-formally through competency-based assessments. RPL is a key policy priority in Africa aimed at creating pathways for a large proportion of young people and adults who have gained skills outside the formal education system to further education and decent employment. (ILO 2019)
Comprehensive qualification frameworks, which integrate all academic and vocational qualifications in a single framework, have been found to provide learners with strong pathways to further education via both the academic and vocational tracks. (ILO 2019)
Objectives of the ACQF:
Enhance the comparability, quality and transparency of qualifications of all types and levels.
Support people's lifelong learning.
Facilitate validation of learning, recognition of diplomas and certificates, and mobility of learners and workers across Africa.
Work in cooperation and complementarity with national and regional qualifications frameworks.
Support African continental integration and the creation of an African Education common space.
Promote cooperation and referencing between qualifications frameworks (national, regional) in Africa and worldwide.
Challenges
Capacity constraints and negative perceptions have limited the positive impacts of NQFs and RPL processes in Africa.
Competency-based training has appeal in African countries where TVET systems are criticized for not producing the occupational skills in demand by employers… in practice, however, competency-based training has proven complex to implement at scale.
Opportunities
Strengthening and harmonizing qualifications frameworks across Africa could support the region’s aim of becoming a global powerhouse while supporting labour mobility and promoting inclusive growth.
The successful development and implementation of an African Continental Qualifications Framework (ACQF) would enable employers in Africa to recruit the skilled workers they need, regardless of where they live, and could generate an additional $150 billion in regional income, boost productivity and lift 50 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035. (World Bank 2022)
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), launched in January 2021, is the world’s largest tree trade area and offers African businesses access to an expanded market for selling their products.
However, to reap the potential benefits of the AfCFTA, African counties must take action to improve their citizens’ labour mobility by ensuring that they develop the right skills in the right places at the right time.
They must not only invest in strengthening their own qualifications systems but also cooperate with other counties to aggregate information on the skills that are available and required and to harmonize and benchmark their qualifications frameworks and RPL processes. (eLearning Africa, 2022)
Conclusion
Infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa are plagued with a skills shortage resulting in substandard work, cost overruns and delays. The region’s construction sector must get a grip on the current pool of skills and competencies available, skills needed to improve project performance, and take steps to train workers to adapt to emerging digital technologies and sustainability requirements of the future.
Attracting foreign investment for capital projects requires the assurance that a skilled and competent workforce will be available to execute complex projects. If the sub-Saharan African region is to attract foreign investment that assures profitability, the region must undertake a unique approach to skills mapping, integrating informal skills that can translate into competencies. This monumental task will require private and public partnerships across multiple domains, cross border collaboration, and a universal cohesion between institutions to adopt a fair and transparent system of comparing qualifications.
Original Articl from Construct Africa
