World Youth Skills Day

This panel will present testimonies from individuals who have taken part in vocational training and skills certification processes, identifying enabling factors, obstacles, and a range of perspectives on their formative experience. It will further explore their motivations, incentives, and professional outcomes, drawing lessons to inform institutional practice with a particular focus on satisfaction and the tangible impact on people's lives. Watch other Voices: The experiences of those at the forefront!

Examining how coherent policy frameworks, governance reforms, financing mechanisms, and cross-sectoral coordination can drive skills development for Africa’s industrial growth, productivity, job creation, and economic transformation. This pillar will also spotlight regional cooperation and the operationalization of AfCFTA through skills mobility and policy coherence. Event Highlights The Skills Week 2025 will feature a combination of high-level dialogue, technical sessions, exhibitions, and stakeholder-driven platforms aimed at  catalysing action on industrial skills development.  

Addressing how skills intelligence, demand-driven curricula, and lifelong learning systems can foster high-quality, inclusive TVET responsive to labour market needs. This includes integrating climate-smart, green, and digital skills, promoting gender equality in STEM, supporting vulnerable groups (youth, women, migrants, people with disabilities), and bridging rural–urban disparities in access to training. Event Highlights The Skills Week 2025 will feature a combination of high-level dialogue, technical sessions, exhibitions, and stakeholder-driven platforms aimed at  catalysing action on industrial skills development.  

Fostering stronger partnerships between TVET systems and the productive sector, including MSMEs, to enhance relevance and innovation in training. This pillar will explore co-creation of programmes, regional centres of excellence, mutual recognition of skills, South-South cooperation, and cross-border peer learning as mechanisms for building a dynamic, integrated African skills ecosystem. Event Highlights The Skills Week 2025 will feature a combination of high-level dialogue, technical sessions, exhibitions, and stakeholder-driven platforms aimed at  catalysing action on industrial skills development.  

Exploring how institutional capacity, digitalization, research, and innovation ecosystems can transform Africa’s skills landscape and industrial competitiveness. This includes building the capacity of TVET institutions and trainers, promoting entrepreneurship and incubation hubs, and driving digital and green transitions in TVET systems and industrial value chains. Event Highlights The Skills Week 2025 will feature a combination of high-level dialogue, technical sessions, exhibitions, and stakeholder-driven platforms aimed at  catalysing action on industrial skills development.  

Consistent with the Continental TVET Strategy 2025–2034, Africa Skills Week 2025 will address the inclusion of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons in skills systems that support industrial growth, innovation, and sustainability. Ethiopia, as host country, has taken concrete steps in this area through its pledge to provide formal TVET opportunities for 20,000 refugees and host community members. Integrating displaced populations into skills development and employment pathways is an important dimension of building a skilled, inclusive workforce and advancing the objectives of Agenda 2063. Event Highlights The Skills Week 2025 will feature a combination of high-level dialogue, technical sessions, exhibitions, and stakeholder-driven platforms aimed at  catalysing action on industrial skills development.  

Africa's youth , comprising the world's largest and fastest-growing youth population, are being empowered to gain skills for economic transformation through initiatives focused on foundational education, vocational training, and digital literacy. Key areas of skill development include STEM, cybersecurity, entrepreneurship, analytical thinking, and sustainability. T o address the skills gap , organizations and governments are reforming educational curricula, providing teacher training, and fostering connections between education and the job market. Theme: “Powering Africa's Industrial Future: Skills for Innovation, Growth, and Sustainability” 13-17 October 2025 | African Union Headquarters, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia About Africa Skills Week 2025 Africa Skills Week (ASW) is a continental platform dedicated to advancing Africa’s skills transformation agenda. Building on the success of ASW 2024, the second edition will unite policymakers, industry leaders, educators, youth, and dev...