Degree or dead end? Experts warn Africa must open new doors for its youth

African universities cannot absorb the continent's youth population, forcing governments to treat technical training and professional certifications as equal pathways to jobs, experts have warned.

George Azanami, managing director for Sub-Saharan Africa at the Project Management Institute, and Dr Gavin Nkabinde, senior lecturer in project management at the University of South Africa, say Africa faces a twin challenge of limited university capacity and rising expectations among young people.

The authors note Africa has more than 460 million people aged between 15 and 51 and is expected to have the world's largest workforce by 2040. Tertiary enrolment stands at about 9 per cent compared with a global average of 38 per cent.

"A degree has long been associated with a life-changing opportunity, and a pathway to better job prospects, higher income and social mobility," Azanami observed.

They warn that when university becomes the only perceived route to success, exclusion from admission can create long-term professional and personal damage for young Africans.

"When university becomes the only door to success, young people who don't get in don't just lose a place — they feel as though they have lost a future," Nkabinde noted.

The experts argue that African governments must confront the gap between demand and capacity, noting that education systems are not expanding fast enough to match demographic pressure.

In South Africa, public universities offered about 215,000 first-year places for the 2025 academic year, while more than 265,000 candidates obtained bachelor-level passes in the 2023 National Senior Certificate examinations.

"That gap that the door of the future on at least 10,000 young people," the pair explained.

Private universities face similar pressure, with more than 160,000 applicants competing for fewer than 10,000 places.

The experts say global labour markets are shifting toward skills-based work shaped by artificial intelligence, technological change and economic uncertainty.

"The goal cannot simply be to get into university. The goal must be to build employability, enabling young people to earn an income, grow and adapt to changing conditions," Nkabinde stressed.

They call for expanded technical and vocational education and training, apprenticeships, work-integrated learning and globally recognised certifications to open more pipelines into employment.

The article cites project management certifications such as the Certified Associate in Project Management and Project Management Professional as examples of pathways that can begin immediately after high school.

"Africa's future will not be built by a single educational route, but by an ecosystem of pathways that recognise skills, competencies and character," Whitney Johnson, Azanami concluded.

The experts say universities remain essential to economic development but warn that relying on a single education pathway risks excluding millions of young Africans from meaningful participation in the economy.