ABSTRACT: The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the global economy greatly, worsening youth unemployment and reshaping the job market. The pandemic has not only intensified the economic hardships faced by young and vulnerable people in Africa but also accelerated changes in work characteristics and the new skills set required by employers thereby causing reduced hiring and invariably increased economic uncertainty. This paper employed a systematic review approach involving sourcing published data from different institutions and accredited online materials on the subject. The information obtained were interrogated, analysed and synthesised to unravel gaps in previous studies. The identified gaps provided the leeway to understanding the rapid digital transformation over the years in Africa and the shifts in industry (employers)' priorities in terms of emerging skills set and the need for collaborations considering the changing global technological landscape. A critical analysis of the information gathered from diverse sources revealed a massive infrastructure and 21st century skill sets deficit in the critical sectors of African economies. While it is true that Covid-19 pandemic struck unaware, the prolonged infrastructure decay, corruption, and the lack of political will on the part of those in authority in the continent worsened the impact. There were school shutdowns causing learners to lose lecture hours, lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the health sector, job losses especially amongst low-wage workers and disruptions of the food supply chain arising from lockdown. The lack of appropriate skills and technologies needed to navigate the new normal was brought to the fore, thus highlighting the need for a proper audit of what is required to bridge the gap. This is important for policy redirection and investment priotisation in case of unforeseen shocks in the near future. This paper highlights the significance of skills overhaul in Africa especially among the youth population. While some giant strides have been made in improving pre-colonial educational systems bequeathed to Africa, a lot of upgrades is required to cope with the 21st century skills set demand. Investments in relevant 21st century education technologies will not only equip African youth to be nation-builders but also assist in navigating the post-pandemic world seamlessly.
Oluwatayo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.