The Future of Digital Work Depends On More Than Tech Skills

Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS) announced the general availability of Amazon With the rest of the world’s population aging, Africa will become home to more than a quarter of the world’s total under-25 population by 2030. By the end of this decade, the number of people in the continent’s workforce is expected to have increased more than the rest of the world’s combined. That makes the region a major growth spot for digital talent and, therefore, a crucial source for economic dynamism worldwide. Yet the continent is still producing relatively few workers with software and other tech-oriented skills. The problem is certainly not demand; it now has a substantial and growing tech sector. Africa has an emerging IT ecosystem, including a growing crop of digital entrepreneurs, startups, and innovation centers, and it is one of the fastest-growing tech markets in the world. Internet use has expanded greatly, with South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Tunisia, and Morocco leading the way. Tech giants based in the U.S. and China, including Alibaba, Huawei, IBM, and Microsoft, are making large investments in Africa. Homegrown companies, like eCampus, Interswitch, Jumia, Konga, M-Pesa, Paystack, and Rubies Bank, are also becoming key parts of Africa’s tech ecosystem.