Africa Skills Week 2026 takes place in Harare, Zimbabwe, from 12 to 16 October. The International Labour Organization is taking part to contribute to discussions on skills, employment and lifelong learning.
Linking training to industry needs
The meeting brings together public officials, companies, training institutions and workers’ and employers’ organisations. The programme includes discussions on apprenticeships, work placements, training finance and the recognition of prior learning. Recommendations and commitments are among the expected outcomes.
These themes come together around a practical question: how can a skill be used in productive activity? Training provides preparation, then on-the-job experience confronts that preparation with the equipment, procedures and demands of a trade.
Recognising skills to widen career paths
The recognition of prior learning raises another question: that of skills already acquired through practice. A worker may be able to carry out a task without holding the certificate that would allow it to be recognised in a new career path. An assessment process must then establish what is mastered and what remains to be acquired.
For a company, a clear qualification makes it easier to understand a candidate's profile. For a training institution, dialogue with employers helps place learning within the operations actually carried out on the ground.
Follow-up to the meeting will focus on the proposals adopted and their national follow-up. Turning a commitment into accessible training will then require resources, partners and a timetable. The week's activities provide the framework in which these questions should be discussed.