To improve productivity and the quality of its economic growth, Africa must invest in a virtuous cycle of better skills for better jobs. In 2025, Africa’s real growth is projected at 4.0%, outpacing Latin America and the Caribbean (2.5%) and close behind developing Asia (4.8%). And yet the continent’s economic growth continues to generate too few quality jobs, for the growth does not translate into sufficient productivity gains (AUC/OECD, 2019; AUC/OECD, 2018). Skill gaps are one central reason. Partly because of shortages in skilled labour – notably in sectors such as agrifood and renewable energies – private investment remains below the continent’s potential (AUC/OECD, 2023). Africa has a higher share of informal employment than any other world region, as a result of slow productive transformation; an estimated 82% of all the continent’s workers are in informal employment, compared to 56% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 73% in developing Asia. In South Africa, a country with a low share of informality, 76% of employers report difficulty finding the talent they need (ManpowerGroup, 2022). Skilled workers are necessary to strengthen Africa’s fledgling productive transformation and to deliver quality jobs at scale. The 2024 edition of the Africa’s Development Dynamics report therefore addresses skills, jobs and productivity, coinciding with the African Union’s choice of “education” as its theme of the year.
