Why Africa is producing capable young people who still struggle to participate in the digital economy

Why Africa is producing capable young people who still struggle to participate in the digital economy

The assumption that if you equip young Africans with digital skills, employment will follow has been proven wrong over the years. Millions of young Africans continue to graduate from school each year for economies that cannot absorb them. At the same time, artificial intelligence is already shaping the nature of work, routine tasks, and changing the skills employers demand.

For years, the response has centred on digital skills. Governments have launched coding programmes, development organisations have funded digital literacy initiatives, and private companies have invested in technical training. These efforts have expanded access to digital education, but they have not resolved the fundamental problem: many young people still struggle to convert those skills into meaningful economic opportunities.

According to Maggie Gu, founder and president of Tomorrow Foundation, an initiative focused on digital skills, entrepreneurship, and AI literacy in Africa, the conversation has focused too narrowly on training individuals instead of fixing the systems around them.

“The goal cannot be to produce more people waiting for jobs that may not materialise,” she says. “It must be to produce people who can create work, generate value, and participate in shaping the economy.”

The reality is that Africa’s digital divide is no longer defined only by access to the Internet or computers. It is also shaped by the gap between education and employment, between learning and entrepreneurship, and between talent and opportunity.

Gu, however, disagrees with the premise that African youths need better skills to compete globally.

Africa has one of the world’s youngest populations, with millions entering the labour market every year. Yet many struggle to move from education into meaningful employment, not necessarily because they lack ability, but because the systems that should support them often operate in isolation.

“I have never encountered a talent deficit among African youth. What I encounter, consistently, is a pathway deficit,” she says. “The deeper structural problem is disconnection—not between ministries and reality, but between the different systems that should be working together. Education, industry, employment, entrepreneurship, and capital operate in largely separate silos.”

On one end, the education ecosystem prepares students without close ties to the industry. But then employers complain about the skills gaps, while these graduates struggle to find jobs. The disconnect, Gu argues, isn’t between young people and technology; it’s between the institutions meant to help them succeed.

Across much of the continent, the focus on digital transformation has been on expanding access to technology. More schools now have computer labs than they did a decade ago, and students have access to smartphones that connect them to the Internet. Online learning platforms have also made technical education available beyond traditional classrooms.

Yet that access has not automatically translated into opportunity.

According to Gu, the problem lies in the growing disconnect between the systems surrounding education. Students acquire knowledge in classrooms, but often graduate into labour markets that require different skills, experiences, and professional networks.

“The speed of technological change has now outpaced the adaptation capacity of almost every education system in the world, not just in Africa.”

Most education systems were designed for an industrial economy in which careers were relatively predictable, and knowledge remained relevant for decades. Today’s reality is different. AI tools evolve within months, industries transform rapidly, and many future jobs haven’t yet been defined. This changes what education should prioritise.

Instead of asking whether students have memorised information, institutions increasingly need to prepare learners to continuously adapt, solve unfamiliar problems and collaborate with intelligent systems.

For Africa, the challenge is greater because many countries are simultaneously navigating industrialisation, digital transformation, and the rise of AI. However, this may be an opportunity because many African education systems have less entrenched legacy infrastructure than those in developed economies; they may have greater freedom to redesign learning for today’s world rather than continually patch systems built for yesterday.

Digital skills matter, but their economic value depends on whether they are supported by institutions that connect learning to employment and enterprise.

Governments often respond to the digital divide by investing in connectivity, computer labs, and devices. While necessary, Gu says infrastructure alone rarely solves the problem.

She points to schools where computers remain underused because teachers haven’t received sufficient support, curricula remain outdated, or students don’t see how digital tools connect to economic opportunity.

“The gap is not primarily a knowledge gap,” she says. “It is a system integration gap. Infrastructure matters enormously. Without electricity, connectivity, and devices, digital education cannot reach the students who need it most. But infrastructure alone is not sufficient.”

In other words, students can acquire technical knowledge yet still struggle because education, employment, entrepreneurship, and finance rarely operate as a connected ecosystem.

Closing that divide requires more than adding coding classes. It means exposing students to real-world problems, industry networks, practical experience, and entrepreneurial opportunities much earlier in their education.

Higher education institutions continue to play an important role in research, critical thinking, and long-term knowledge creation. However, they cannot meet the demands of a rapidly changing digital economy in isolation.

Instead, Gu advocates stronger links between universities, vocational programmes, technology hubs, and digital learning platforms, enabling students to move between academic learning and practical experience throughout their careers.

Africa is frequently recognised for its entrepreneurial activity, yet much of that activity is driven by necessity rather than innovation.

Unable to secure formal employment, many young people create businesses simply to generate income. While these enterprises play an important economic role, Gu argues that they should not be confused with growth-oriented entrepreneurship.

“Survival entrepreneurship and growth entrepreneurship are structurally different things. Conflating them in policy and in public discourse does a disservice to both.”