The demand for skilled training by workers across the world has increased as the global job market demands for more technologically inclined experts.
According to Coursera’s sixth annual Global Skills Report 2024, there are around 3.4 million gaps worldwide as many jobs in specific areas go unfilled thus the need for training institutions to equip learners to meet this demand.
Speaking, Coursera CEO, Jeff Maggioncalda, explained that the report which highlights how countries rank in terms of skilled training was sourced from the organisation’s learning community made up of over 148 million learners and 7,000 institutional customers—and content from 325 of the world’s leading university and industry partners.
The Global Skills Report, 2024 ranked African countries showing how learners across each country performed in the business, technology and data science domains largely.
Top 10 African countries in global skill ranking
Here are 12 African countries with the best skill proficiency;
| Rank | Global Rank | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 74 | Cameroon |
| 2 | 76 | Tunisia |
| 3 | 88 | Zambia |
| 4 | 92 | Ethiopia |
| 5 | 95 | Algeria |
| 6 | 97 | Zimbabwe |
| 7 | 98 | Kenya |
| 8 | 99 | Cote d'Ivoire |
| 9 | 100 | South Africa |
| 10 | 102 | Uganda |
| 11 | 104 | Ghana |
| 12 | 105 | Nigeria |
From the report, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) recorded the smallest growth (12%), indicating the need for governments across the region to improve accessibility to learning resources to overcome online learning barriers.
However, North American countries recorded a 61% year-over-year growth in Professional Certificate enrollments with learners inclining toward courses like data analytics, cybersecurity, and project management.
While Nigeria ranked 105th globally, it ranked 12th position in SSA with 26% business skills, 1% technology skills and 1% data science.
The report advised on the need for countries in SSA to focus on developing a skilled young workforce as evident from the region's low number of skilled workforce recorded.