Africa is poised to serve as a continental platform to accelerate dialogue, partnerships, and action on the role of skills in driving its industrial transformation.
The event, which is scheduled to take place on 9-10th September 2025, is organised by the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD (AUDA-NEPAD), in partnership with the government of the Republic of Zambia.
The workshop will convene the Industrial Skills Week Africa (ISWA) at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.\With statistics revealing that Africa’s working-age population is projected to rise over 1 billion by 2035, the continent stands at a pivotal moment to harness this demographic dividend through inclusive, industry-aligned skills development.
However, there’s a growing concern between labour market needs and available skills as it continues to limit productivity, innovation, and employment in key sectors such as manufacturing, mining, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and green industries.
The Industrial Skills Week Africa (ISWA 2025) will address this challenge by rallying public and private sector actors around a shared agenda: equipping Africa’s workforce with the skills needed to drive sustainable industrial growth.
This year’s theme, “Powering Africa’s industrial future: skills for innovation, growth, and sustainability,” strengthens the continent’s commitment to building a competitive, future-ready workforce that aligns with Agenda 2063 and Zambia’s 8th National Development Plan.
(ISWA) is a combined platform designed to showcase innovations that link technical and vocational education and training (TVET) to employment and entrepreneurship, promoting labour market intelligence and future skills forecasting.
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It will also promote youth and women’s participation in industrial transformation as well as elevate Zambia’s leadership in demand-driven, inclusive TVET reform.
Speaking ahead of the event, Ms. Nardos Bekele-Thomas, the chief executive officer (CEO) of AUDA-NEPAD, said: “The industrial revolution of Africa cannot be achieved without changing how we prepare and train our people, especially our youth, for the jobs of tomorrow.
ISWA will offer a space for real solutions, real partnerships, and real commitments toward a skills-led development pathway for the continent.”
Zambia’s Ministry of Technology and Science, through its implementation agency (TEVETA), is playing a crucial role in bringing together stakeholders across the TVET ecosystem, including industry leaders, government departments, youth networks, and training institutions.
The event will include technical sessions, policy dialogues, sectoral round-tables, innovation exhibitions, and site visits to local training centres and industries.
“Zambia is taking pride in hosting the 1st Industrial Skills Week Africa,” said Felix Mutati, Minister of Technology and Science.
“This is the opportunity to focus on Zambia’s youth, our training institutions, and the incredible innovations happening across our continent.
We hope this will be a start for more and future engagement that will embrace African skills as the backbone of African industry.”
AUDA-NEPAD and the government of Zambia are calling on all stakeholders, including government ministries, the private sector, regional organisations, youth-led networks, training institutions, and development partners, to embrace this noble journey of building Africa’s industrial skills ecosystem.
The African Union Development Agency-NEPAD is the technical body of the African Union. The mandate of AUDA-NEPAD is to facilitate and coordinate the implementation of regional and continental priority programmes and projects, and to promote partnerships, resource mobilisation, research, and knowledge management.
Through AUDA-NEPAD, African countries are provided unique opportunities to take complete control of their development agenda, to work more closely together and to cooperate more effectively with international partners.
By Wakhungu Andanje
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