The Board Chair of Crab Island Technical and Vocational Education Training Centre (TVET) and former Banjul North Parliamentarian, Ousman Sillah, has called for urgent and concrete strategies to address apprenticeship gaps across Africa. Speaking at the Second Edition of Africa Skills Week (ASW 2025), hosted by the Federal Republic of Ethiopia from 13-17 October 2025, Sillah highlighted the pressing need to better integrate the continent’s vast informal economy into skills training initiatives.
Sillah addressed delegates by questioning the current approaches being adopted by African Union member states to tackle apprenticeship:
“What approach is being taken by the member countries in terms of addressing apprenticeship? The issue with apprenticeship is that in Africa, the informal economy is the apprenticeship that we’re talking about. The workforce of Africa, the majority of the workforce is in the informal economy.”
He underscored that the heart of effective skills development often lies within the informal sector, where much of the continent’s training organically occurs. Despite this, Sillah argued, there has been a lack of concrete policy or unified action to harness and formalize these apprenticeship systems.
Citing stark statistics, Sillah noted, “Out of every ten young Africans who are taken to school, it is only three who make it, who complete their education. What is the effect of the other seven?” He suggested that an apprenticeship could provide a vital pathway for those who do not complete formal education, offering them opportunities for gainful employment and a way out of poverty.
“For us, we believe that apprenticeship is an option that we can offer to those seven, because these are unique categories, not in education, employment, and training,” Sillah said, referring to the millions of African youth who leave school each year, often with limited prospects.
Africa Skills Week 2025 brought together policymakers, educators, and industry leaders from across the continent to discuss solutions for youth unemployment, skills development, and the future of work. Sillah’s remarks resonated with ongoing debates about how to bridge the gap between formal education systems and the realities faced by Africa’s burgeoning youth population.
As discussions continue, Sillah’s call for practical apprenticeship frameworks and greater investment in the informal sector is expected to influence policy recommendations emerging from the summit’s final communiqué.
