Nearly two-thirds of online learners enrolled in professional skills courses in the Sub-Saharan Africa region access their education via smartphones and tablets, the highest percentage to do so in any region in the world.
According to a new report by the United States-based global micro-credentials trainer Coursera, the proportion – 65% in total – is in line with the widespread use of mobile phones in the region where 75% of internet traffic is through mobile phones, also highlighting the importance of flexible, on-the-go learning solutions for the continent.
Nigeria, the continent’s biggest country in terms of population, leads the way with 76% of its learners accessing courses on mobile devices, a testimony to the importance of the gadgets in Africa beyond communication, the 2024 report shows.
The Nigerian figure is much higher than that of South Africa, which had 62% of its learners on the Coursera platform using mobile devices, three percentage points lower than the 65% regional average, the 2024 Global Skills Report focus on Sub-Saharan Africa reveals.
Wide gender gap
The widespread use of the gadgets for remote learning calls for measures to enable deeper internet access as a critical ingredient for skills development in the region with the biggest youth population in the world, the document says.
At the same time, the region recorded the smallest growth of learners on the platform in 2024, posting a meagre 12%, which was in sharp contrast to a 61% year-on-year growth in enrolments in North America, and the Middle East and North Africa, or MENA, that saw a 41% growth.
This was a steep fall in Africa from the average 80% year-on-year growth reported in 2023, when the region’s closest rival was the Asia Pacific region with a growth of 69%, and when North America’s growth stood at 53%.
The suppressed growth, the analysis says, indicates a need for increased access to learning resources and support to overcome barriers, such as underdeveloped digital infrastructure, the lack of accessible and affordable connectivity, and inadequate regulatory and policy environments.
While learners from the region focused on foundational courses such as business skills, risk management and supply chain systems, only 36% of them were women. This is despite women comprising 46.1% of the region’s labour force and 50.3% of the working-age population.
As a result, Sub-Saharan Africa emerged as the region with the widest gender percentage gap of 14%, with Botswana being the only exception and “a bright spot”, by achieving gender parity in online enrolments, where women made 50% of its students.
The gap could be due to socio-economic challenges, cultural norms, poor internet access, and the general unaffordability of data and devices, notes the report.
It attributes Botswana’s success as likely being the result of “progressive initiatives”, such as SmartBots and the United Nations Children’s Programme’s (UNICEF’s) GIGA, which connects schools to high-speed internet to strengthen access to online learning.
This poor showing was only second to that of the Middle East and North Africa region, which had a 13 percentage point disparity between women learners and women in the general population, the report further reveals.
The performance was also 13 percentage points lower than the global female average, which stood at 46% in 2023.
The Middle East and North Africa region has the lowest percentage of women learners studying Coursera courses across all regions, signalling an opportunity to bring more female learners online, Kais Zribi, the Coursera general manager for the Middle East and Africa told University World News.
“Our data shows that countries in the region [Sub-Saharan Africa] scored below the global average, highlighting the necessity of developing a skilled workforce to drive economic growth,” he said.
“With over 230 million jobs expected to require digital skills by 2030, investing in job-focused education is imperative,” he explained, further noting that, while skill rankings are crucial, they are not the “sole indicators of advancement”.
Overall, some 6.9 million reportedly enrolled in Coursera courses compared to 4.9 million enrolled between 2019 and 2023, a growth of 2 million learners during the period.
Contributing factors for the expansion, according to Zribi, include greater recognition of the value of online education for career development, and availability of a diverse range of courses meeting professional and personal learning goals.
Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
“The substantial growth seen in 2023 in Sub-Saharan Africa likely sets a high benchmark, influencing this year’s lower growth rate,” Zribi noted.
“Economic conditions, changes in government support, and evolving market dynamics could also play significant roles. These fluctuations highlight the region’s dynamic educational landscape, where ongoing adaptation is crucial to meet diverse learning needs and opportunities.
“Additionally, varying levels of internet accessibility and socio-economic conditions may impact enrolment trends across the region,” he added.
Digital skills and proficiency
On the positive side, he disclosed that Sub-Saharan Africa witnessed a surge in new enrolments and a 1,500% year-on-year increase in artificial intelligence admissions, signalling a major stride towards a digital-oriented workforce.
“This trend highlights the evolving educational landscape in Africa, where digital platforms are crucial in expanding access to high-quality learning opportunities,” he noted.
In terms of skills proficiency rankings, Botswana is Africa’s highest-ranking country in the region, followed by Rwanda and Cameroon, the countries ranked at position 66, 71 and 74 respectively out of the 109 countries ranked globally and which had Switzerland, Japan and Germany in the top positions.
This is ahead of the bottom three of Ghana, Nigeria and Somalia which are globally ranked at positions 104, 105 and 107 respectively. Only 13 countries from the region were featured.
The global skill rankings assessed proficiency across business, technology and data science fields, based on the performance of learners on Coursera and key economic indices.
“Since several factors may influence a country’s skill ranking, and to provide a holistic view, the 2024 report introduces an evolved skills ranking methodology that combines skill proficiency data with leading economic indices on global innovation, labour force participation, human capital and GDP per capita,” says Zribi in the document’s foreword.
The analysis also focuses on course preference by countries, revealing that learners in Botswana preferred skills in leadership, risk management and accounting, preparing for roles such as project, IT and operations managers.
It finds that, with projected annual economic growth of 4.5% over the next five years, continued investments in digital infrastructure and skills development are the key to reducing unemployment and fostering inclusive growth in the Southern African country.
Its bigger and more economically advanced neighbour, South Africa’s, learners, on the other hand, showed interest in building business skills such as risk management, supply chain systems, and brand management, preparing for roles such as IT project or operations managers, and business analysts.
It observes that “South Africa has the potential to generate 4.5 million new jobs across industries by 2030. However, with an estimated 28,800 digital and ICT jobs already being outsourced, there’s a pressing need to develop a skilled domestic workforce.”
For Nigeria, it explains that learners focus on developing ICT technical skills such as SQL (structured query language) and HTML/CSS (Cascading Style Sheets is used to format the layout of a webpage), as well as business skills, including advertising and business.
They target roles learners prepare for ‘span’ engineering and marketing, including cloud security engineer, product marketing managers, and e-commerce analysts.
“However, with only one in 10 workers holding positions that require advanced skill levels, these skill sets are crucial in addressing Nigeria’s youth unemployment rate, which stands at 53.4%,” it observes.
Transform education systems
With about 10 million to 12 million young Africans entering the labour market annually, and where only three million formal jobs are available, the report calls for transforming education systems by updating curricula, investing in teacher training, and increasing funding.
“By equipping young Africans for the future, the region can turn its demographic challenge into an economic advantage,” the 2024 analysis suggests.
Source: UAEU
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