Expert Identifies Workforce Gaps Hindering Africa’s Competitiveness, Calls for Urgent Reforms

By Tosin Clegg

An expert in human capital development, Fope Daniels, has warned that Africa’s potential as a global talent hub is under threat due to structural weaknesses in workforce systems, calling for urgent reforms to prepare the continent for rapid technological and economic shifts.

In a paper made available to this medium, Daniels linked her recommendations to years of field experience building people systems for high-growth African companies operating across Nigeria, Rwanda, Kenya, the UK, and the US. She noted that her work as an Employability Strategist and Talent Manager across industries in EdTech, logistics, and technology start-ups has revealed consistent gaps that, if not addressed, could undermine Africa’s demographic advantage.

With Africa having the largest youth population in the world under the age of 30 and a projected 42% of the global youth population by 2030, Daniels stated this could be a driving force for global competitiveness, but only if talent pipelines are designed to be adaptive, inclusive, and innovatively aligned. “This is a narrow window of opportunity,” she explained. “If we fail to prepare our workforce for the demands of a digital and interconnected economy, we risk turning a demographic asset into a liability.”

First, she pointed to fragmented skills development due to obsolete curriculum as a major barrier, with training systems often misaligned with global market needs. “In too many cases, our education systems are producing graduates who cannot meet the demands of employers, not because they lack intelligence, but because the training is not linked to real-world applications,” she said.

Second, Daniels identified inadequate cross-border employment systems as a critical challenge. Drawing from East African market entry projects she led, she noted that the absence of harmonised labour compliance frameworks delayed operations by months, costing companies both revenue and investor confidence.

Third, she emphasised the weakness of industry-education partnerships, saying these links are essential to ensure that training and education programs prepare students for the realities of the ever evolving job market. She cited internship and mentorship frameworks she has implemented, which reduced tech talent attrition by up to 15% in one logistics-technology conglomerate.

Fourth, Daniels highlighted the underutilisation of data in workforce planning. She said companies often make hiring and retention decisions without leveraging analytics to forecast talent needs or track performance trends. “When talent strategies are informed by data, recruitment timelines drop, candidate quality rises, and retention improves. I’ve seen this work with results as high as a 45% increase in candidate quality,” she explained.

Fifth, she warned against neglecting workplace culture and global employment compliance as a driver of competitiveness. “Culture is not just a buzzword,” Daniels said. “In organisations where values are clearly defined and lived out daily, you see better engagement, stronger performance, and far less attrition, even in high-pressure sectors like tech.”

The urgency, she argued, is compounded by global competition for skilled workers. With remote work now commonplace, African talent is no longer competing only locally but with global peers, making the need for internationally competitive skills all the more pressing.

She called for African governments to invest in education reforms, employment law reforms and digital infrastructure to support cross border hiring, remote work and the gig economy, saying this would allow skilled professionals in the African job market contribute meaningfully to the global economy without the hassles of migrating and playing second fiddle to counterparts in other part of the world.

On the policy front, she urged African leaders to harmonise employment regulations across borders to make it easier for companies to scale operations continent-wide while protecting workers’ rights.

Daniels added that Africa’s economic future will be defined by how quickly it can align skills development, labour compliance, workplace culture, data-driven strategy, and industry partnerships. “We have the talent, we have the markets, and we have the global visibility,” she stated.

“What we need now is the discipline to design systems that work for our realities, not imported models that ignore them.”