Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP) need to improve education and technical and vocational training to meet the needs of the labour market, argues the OECD in a report published on Friday, in which it points to good examples.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) believes that addressing educational disparities and above all “the shortage of teachers is crucial” for the PALOP – Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe.
“The shortage of qualified teachers prevents young people from accessing a quality education,” the organisation points out in the report “Africa’s Development Dynamics – skills, employment and productivity”.
Among the PALOP countries, the heterogeneity in the level of schooling and in the distribution of labour skills is significant, it says, but in all of them the levels are low.
In Mozambique, the rate of completion of secondary education among people now over the age of 25 is 15%, compared to 28.9% in Angola, 29.5% in Cabo Verde and 38.9% in São Tomé and Príncipe, the only one with a figure above the average (30.4%) of 29 African countries, according to 2023 data from UNESCO, cited in the report.
The OECD takes a positive view of various initiatives underway to close educational and skills gaps, citing among them the recent training initiatives led by Camões – Institute for Cooperation and Language to develop the capacities of education professionals that have been implemented in Angola (Saber+), Guinea-Bissau (PRECASE8) and São Tomé and Príncipe (PAISE-STP9).
“International partners and national governments can maximise synergies to reduce skills gaps and boost employment in priority sectors,” recommends the intergovernmental organisation, praising Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
With unemployment rates among young people aged 15 to 24 ranging from 4% (Guinea-Bissau) to 28% (Cabo Verde) in 2024, “TVET represents a transition path to the labour market for many young people,” it says.
The PALOP countries are trying to improve this type of education and training “to meet the needs of the labour market”, recognises the OECD, which considers that it makes it possible to “boost employment in priority sectors” for these countries.
Among the initiatives, the report mentions, for example, that Cabo Verde and Portugal signed a memorandum of understanding in 2023 with investment objectives in six strategic areas: metallurgy, digital, construction, social sector, tourism and energy transition.
Another example is the PROCULTURA PALOP-Timor-Leste Programme, with a budget of €19 million, which sought to develop artistic and management skills while boosting revenue-generating activities and jobs in the creative industries, and +EMPREGO Mozambique.
This project, co-financed by the European Union and Camões, is aimed at the professional integration of 1,200 Mozambicans, aged between 15 and 25, and graduates of vocational education, 25% of whom are women, and aims to promote better qualifications for available jobs, public-private partnerships and improved access to employment and self-employment in Cabo Delgado Province, recalls the OECD.
In this country, the OECD also mentions the project Improving Skills Development, in partnership with the World Bank, which aims to improve the quality of education in secondary and TVET institutions geared towards the needs of the labour market.
The report also analyses strategic areas where the five African regions have the greatest potential to increase productivity thanks to a more qualified workforce: mining in Central and Southern Africa, digital in East Africa, renewable energies in North Africa and agri-food in West Africa.
