The persistent capability gap: higher education, innovation systems and technological unemployment in Sub-Saharan Africa

Technological change is reshaping labour markets worldwide and raising the prospect of technological unemployment: the displacement of workers by innovation. In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), high youth unemployment and a rapidly expanding working-age population make the stakes particularly acute. Drawing on the Capabilities and Innovation Systems approaches, this study examines technology-driven employment change in SSA and assesses higher education institutions’ (HEIs) readiness to respond. It combines a structured qualitative review of peer-reviewed scholarship, a comparative policy analysis of five purposively selected countries (Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Ghana) using Walt and Gilson’s (1994) framework, and statistics from the ILO, World Bank, ITU, OECD and UNDP. Findings indicate that up to 85% of jobs in some SSA economies are exposed to automation, with agriculture (roughly 60% of employment) most exposed. A youth NEET rate of 20.4% and a digital-skills deficit (fewer than 5% of young Africans have advanced digital skills) reveal a structural mismatch between HEI outputs and labour-market needs, compounded by infrastructural, governance and digital-divide constraints. The study contributes an integrated capability–innovation-systems model that positions HEIs as pivotal mediators between individual capability formation and systemic innovation, and offers evidence-based recommendations for HEIs, governments, the private sector, and international organisations.