Building e-skills in Africa

Ben Youssef, Adel and Bester, Coetzee and Chuka, Aduba and Dahmani, Mounir and Malan, Beverley (2014): Building e-skills in Africa. Published in: in One Billion People, One Billion Opportunities : Building Human Capital in Africa, Chapter 11, Soucat, A. & Ncube, M. (Editors). African Development Bank. (April 2014): pp. 165-183.

Abstract

This chapter discusses what kind of strategies are needed to improve people’s e-skills in Africa. A hybrid between technological and organizational skills, e-skills are becoming the cornerstone of human development in the 21st century. They allow ICT to be used to its full extent fostering economic growth, social inclusion, health and education services, and poverty reduction. Hence, significant progress in e-skills development is possible in Africa, but it will require system-wide changes. Small-scale programs and local reforms often fail to achieve the desired large-scale effects. More equitable access, quality, relevance, and effectiveness of e-skills development cannot depend solely on scaling up “best practices.” Attention needs to be paid to the governance environment in which e-skills programs take place.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: ICT use, e-skills, economic impacts, employability, socioeconomic inclusion, Africa
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E24 - Employment ; Unemployment ; Wages ; Intergenerational Income Distribution ; Aggregate Human Capital ; Aggregate Labor Productivity; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J24 - Human Capital ; Skills ; Occupational Choice ; Labor Productivity; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O15 - Human Resources ; Human Development ; Income Distribution ; Migration; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O33 - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences ; Diffusion Processes; Q - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics ; Environmental and Ecological Economics > Q5 - Environmental Economics > Q55 - Technological Innovation

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