Sub-Saharan Africa has an unprecedented opportunity to boost growth, create jobs and improve social stability, thanks to a burgeoning population that is likely to double by 2050.

The region already has the world’s highest proportion of people under 25. By 2025 it will be home to around a quarter of the global population aged 24 and younger.

This trend presents an incredible opportunity for the region, known as the demographic dividend.

The catch is that between 15 and 20 million new jobs will have to be created every year over the next three decades, according to the International Monetary Fund, at a time when the region already struggles to provide enough jobs and prospects.

The path to unlocking the potential of this demographic dividend requires investment in skills to develop infrastructure and bolster the manufacturing and services sectors. In order to build faster, more sustainable job creation, we need to consider a three-pronged strategy based on:

• A stronger education system with closer links to industry
• More open and flexible labour markets and a broader talent localisation strategy pursued in partnership with global companies; and
• The pipeline of skills needed to leverage the technological advances of tomorrow.

A stronger education system

Our education systems need strengthening through greater investment and closer links to industry. While the labour force is large and growing, many young people remain relatively unskilled. However, this is not for lack of talented young people, nor is it a lack of companies looking for workers.

Africa’s high graduate unemployment rates signal that our education system is often misaligned with the needs of industry. In Kenya, it has been estimated that it can take up to five years for a graduate to secure relevant employment.

This underscores the need for closer dialogue between schools and industry, to better align the demand and supply of skills.

More students should be steered towards Stem subjects (science, technology, education and mathematics), which are necessary to speed up the development of Africa’s infrastructure.

According to the United Nations Development Programme, just one African college student in six will graduate with a science or engineering degree, a mere 1 per cent of the continent’s university-age cohort. We can and we must do more to address this gap between supply and demand.

Labour market and talent localisation

Equipping students and workers with the right skills is the first step towards creating more and better jobs with stronger skills, higher remuneration and better career prospects.

Countries also need to consider the right conditions for domestic and international companies to invest at scale and remain competitive in global markets. While meaningful progress has been made in improving the business environment, more is needed.

Stronger infrastructure, a better business environment and a more skilled workforce would spark a substantial acceleration in foreign investment. These advances would allow global companies to scale up their operations rapidly and localise production in Africa, accelerating the transfer of technology and skills.

Multinational corporations must act as a crucial partner in pursuing this strategy. And there is a lot that can be done that is consistent with efficiency and long-term success. You must have a significant number of local employees, especially at the leadership level.

This ensures an appropriate understanding of the landscape and culture. It is extremely difficult to do business in Africa today without understanding not only current events but also the history of political, tribal, and business make-up in each of the 54 unique African countries. You need to know where the decisions get made and who or what can support or derail your business.

The joint efforts of government and private companies, including multinational companies like GE, are beginning to bear fruit. Training and technological transfers in areas such as transportation and healthcare have begun to accelerate the creation of the necessary skills.

In that vein, GE this week announced a commitment of $14.7 million towards addressing some of the most critical health challenges in East Africa through a focus on skills development and capacity building. This includes the company’s first-ever dedicated healthcare skills advancement centre in Africa, which will be inaugurated in Nairobi later this year.

A pipeline of skills for tomorrow

It is critical that this focus on skills development is not only on the jobs of today, but also tomorrow. Digital technologies are beginning to permeate the industrial world, triggering a new industrial revolution that will transform the way we work and redefine the competitive environment for companies and countries. At GE, we call this the “Future of Work.”

Changes to our education and training systems should be geared to shaping the workforce of tomorrow. This will enable local skills to quickly adapt to the changing demands of industry.

Governments should also encourage and leverage Africa’s entrepreneurial and innovative spirit.

In Kenya, the mobile payments system M-Pesa has bypassed the banking system, transforming financial transactions and boosting economic activity.

Similar thinking could be applied in other areas where lack of infrastructure is an especially acute problem, such as power generation and distribution, and healthcare. New innovations provide a huge opportunity for Africa, because they can allow the region to leapfrog existing industrialisation models, and quickly improve our competitive position in the global economy.

For companies and individuals alike, the “Future of Work” brings tremendous opportunity for Africa. It can allow the region to build a range of manufacturing and services activities that will remain competitive for decades to come, fuelling strong growth in jobs and incomes on a sustainable basis.

The key to realising this is investing in people.

Jay Ireland is the CEO of GE Africa. Portions of his article reference a new GE white paper titled “Building strong workforces to power Africa’s growth” launched this week in Nairobi.