Main messages Analysis first Risk of the missing middle Not only - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Governing for Infrastructure Delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa

Closing the Skills Gap: Coordinating Key Actors

Presentation by Jean Van Wetter Chatham House, 14th March 2016

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• Analysis first
• Risk of the missing middle
• Not only skills but also local and enterprise development
• The challenges of coordinating key actors

Main messages

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• Assumptions are often wrong - Demand for skills is not always

what key actors expect – lessons from the oil and gas sector in Tanzania and Mozambique

Analysis first

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• NGOs generally focus on the most

vulnerable people

• Private sector generally focus on those

with the best potential

• Government generally focus on access

at the price of quality All approaches are needed Role of the private sector is key, particularly with technology transfer to avoid the “missing middle”

Risk of the missing middle

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• Not only technical skills but also generic

skills (management, health & safety, English…)

• Need for local and national enterprises

with the right level of management expertise

• Need for better planning from local

Government Skills development cannot work in isolation from local economic development plans Sustainability of jobs requires transferable skills and quality management teams

Not only skills – need for local and enterprise development too

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The challenges of coordinating key actors

• Who’s responsibility? Ministries, donors, NGOs,

private sector, training providers?

• How to reconcile different agendas?
• The issues of certification and international standards?
• Specific needs versus generic skills?
• Local Content - Policy easy? Planning for skills?
• Current restrictions on foreign workers do not allow

for necessary knowledge transfers Strong Government Leadership (providing realistic targets and plans, steering weak parastatal delivery units and tackling corruption) Clear Coordination Agenda (Yes, skills development but also economic development, trade, local content and immigration policies)