The Fourth Industrial Revolution is already underway in many African countries with an estimated 230 million digital jobs to be created by 2030. How might we build upon the existing momentum and address the changing learning and labour landscape?
The International Labour Organization (ILO) in collaboration with the Training Centre (ITCILO) and funded by Directorate for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg hosted an e-learning workshop with over 50 innovators to discuss and envision the digital future of Africa. The question that the ILO and ITCILO sought to address on 29 May 2024 during The Future of Digital Skills and Jobs in Africa workshop as part of the eLearning Africa Conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
The workshop followed the foresight methodology, which is the capacity to think systematically about the future and to inform decision-making today. Based on pre-defined scenarios, groups analysed the social, technological, economic, environmental, and political opportunities and challenges in those future worlds.
Speaking during the conference, Yves Iradukunda from the Ministry of ICT and Innovation in Rwanda highlighted the country’s ambition to become a leading hub of digital transformation with a vision of training and employing the future young generations
Alice Vozza and Fatima Elsanousi Sirelkhatim from the ILO shared the objectives and initial results from two projects focusing on digital skills development and decent digital job access for youth in South Africa and Rwanda.
Over 50 attendees collaborated through the foresight methodology to explore four future scenarios of Africa in 2050. Together, they developed four unique innovation proposals to harness the potential of digitalization.
Participants walked away from the workshop with concrete actions to address current challenges, leading to a more digitally inclusive future in South Africa, Rwanda, and the rest of the continent. One shared, “It was emotionally engaging to witness the hard decisions that are involved in balancing innovation and digital skills training.”
Here’s to a skilled and digitized future!