Stakeholders from various sectors will on Tuesday 16 July convene at a policy roundtable to be organised by the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) in Lagos, Nigeria, to explore how developing countries are skilling their workforce to leverage the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR or Industry 4.0).
The policy roundtable is the second of three workshops being held under the ‘Right-skilling the Workforce in Africa for Industry 4.0’ project, and will bring together thought-leaders and key stakeholders from four key sectors: (i) Agriculture; (ii) Manufacturing; (iii) Online Work and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Services; and (iv) the Creatives Industry. The roundtable will explore “glocalised” and actionable insights to the main policy question: ‘How do we create the right skills economy for the workforce of tomorrow in developing countries?’
The first workshop was held in Kenya in June and the last will be held in South Africa in August. Participants will analyse ways in which African policy makers, industry practitioners and academia can effectively leverage opportunities that the 4IR presents while limiting potential threats.
The project, funded by Microsoft Philanthropies Middle East and Africa and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and being led by the University of Singapore, will also explore the extent to which gender issues have been mainstreamed throughout the initiatives spearheaded by government, academia and key industry players.
“The world is at the cusp of a new industrial revolution, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), brought on by breakthroughs in information and communication technologies (ICTs) and developing countries must make deliberate efforts to ready themselves to take advantage of it,” says Dr. Julius Gatune, ACET’s consultant on the project.
Yet a recent ACET study found that many African countries are unprepared for the 4IR, which is unleashing new capabilities and fundamentally changing the nature of work through automation.
The study further suggests that how countries will fare in the wake of the 4IR will depend largely on four key pillars: (i) the right skills; (ii) infrastructure; (iii) dynamic innovations system and (iv) sensible regulations. ACET believes that with the right strategies and investments, the 4IR can be a tool for heralding much-needed economic transformation.
Watch the discussion live on our Facebook page and join the conversation on all our platforms: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook @acetforafrica, using the hashtags #ACET and #FutureofWork.
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Notes to Editors
About ACET
The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) is an African “think and do” tank with an overarching goal of helping equip African governments with the knowledge and tools to transform their economies. ACET wants African governments to achieve economic transformation and improved human well-being “in a generation”.
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