Africa’s Skills and Labour Market Problems - A private sector perspective Foluso Phillips Phillips Consulting Group

Understanding Africa

Africa is all about 800 million people failing to convert unquantifiable riches into phenomenal wealth. 3 …failing to add value

Africa’s Realities Africa contributes only 1% of global gross domestic product Africa participates in a mere 2% of international trade Africa’s average growth rate in the 1990’s was 2% At 5% average growth rate per annum, Africa will be poorer than it currently is Africa will have to grow consistently at 7% per annum up to 2015 to just halve the number of its severely poor.

Africa is a rich but not a wealthy continent Africa has the biggest flight of capital and skills in the world Less than 10 African countries have a GDP of over $10b Africa is the leading recipient of development aid for more than 30 years ($10bn in 1999) Least recipient of capital flows in past 15 years 50% of FDI goes into petroleum and mining. SA, Egypt, Algeria & Nigeria account for over 50% of trade volumes in Africa.

NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development The African Union’s Instrument of Action

EDUCATION drives it all!

Public Spending in Education as share of GDP % share of GDP Nigeria USA France UK Singapore S. Korea Honk Kong 2001

Public Spending on Education as a Share of GDP (AFRICA) % share of GDP Nigeria S. Africa Uganda Zimbabwe Coted’ Ivore Ghana Keny a 2001

Nigerian Government’s Budgetary Allocation to Education 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 40.0 % 7.2 % 12.6 % 17.6 % 10.3 % % 8.40 % % 7.0 % % Allocation

TitleS. AfricaEgyptMauritiusNigeriaZimbabwe Tech Sophistication High Skilled IT Job Market IT Education Prioritization of ICT Quality of Public Schools Difference in Quality of Schools Extent of Staff Training Management of Schools Some African Competitiveness issues

Availability of Skilled Labour? Africa’s educational system is flawed Africa’s investment in education is inadequate Inadequate national planning on education –Strategic focus of each country –National competence of each county –Industrial clusters and organisational competencies Global competitiveness (Technology).

Challenges of the Private Sector Poor strategic planning of manpower needs Inability to define & specify required competencies Flawed recruitment process –Matching people to jobs –Being painstaking in the process –Using recruitment professionals –The cost of recruitment errors Retention strategies are not in place –There is a need to focus on keeping people –Education and Training Not managing employee’s careers Competitive reward and recognition systems Learning to grow own labour pool.

Supporting Investment and Growth Vocational training Greater investment in pre-tertiary –Primary, secondary, vocational Telecommunications Information technology Power generation engineering Mechanical engineering Infrastructure construction Beneficiation of natural resources –Mineral mining –Oil exploration –Oil beneficiation –Agriculture.

Going back ‘home’ Jobs are running out in the western world What are your competencies? –Knowledge, skills, attitude –What is the relevance of your experience? Skills are always relevant – its finding the right job Plan your return home Manage your expectations through research Seeking opportunities in Africa and not own home country Entrepreneurial – doing your own thing You don’t have to come home…but !.

Africa – A Continent of Opportunities Huge labour population Phenomenal Raw Materials Very High unemployment Shortage of the right skills Wrong focus of skill development Little or no manpower planning Skewed population profile Very inadequate investment in skills development The technology paradigm – another lost opportunity?.

Thank You!