Cenfri, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, is hosting a roundtable discussion on youth digital skills in Africa. A number of content experts have been invited to consider and debate the importance of digital skills for young people to access economic opportunities in the future.

It is estimated that by 2030, there will be 375 million young people in the job market in Africa. Under its Young Africa Works initiative, the Foundation aims to ensure that 30 million young people in Africa have meaningful employment by 2030. The digital world is expanding, and therefore digital skills are becoming increasingly important for young people’s employment prospects.

The objective of the expert roundtable is to discuss the preliminary findings from the digital skills diagnostic studies in Ghana and Kenya and to debate approaches for digital skills development as input into the Foundation’s Young Africa Works initiative.

During the event, the research team will present on:

• A digital skills conceptual framework to provide conceptual clarity on the categories of digital skills and how to think about digital skills from a broader skills perspective
• Primary research conducted in Kibera (Iske van den Berg will share the results and stories of the 70 respondents who participated in a digital skills test.)
• The market for digital skills in Ghana (The preliminary insights will cover demand, supply and policy consideration for digital skills in Ghana.)
• The market for digital skills in Kenya (The preliminary insights will cover demand, supply and policy consideration for digital skills in Kenya.)

The intention is to harness the inputs from the participants to shape the conclusion of the research and to contribute towards the discussion on how the best advance digital skills in Africa.

The full-day workshop was hosted in Nairobi on 14 May 2019.