Reshaping Education for the New Labour Market in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Background

The value of education and training is critical in the new labour market in achieving favourable economic outcomes (Autor, Levy, Murnane, 2003). Appropriate education along with training is essential for the new labour market which primarily requires technical expertise. The literature on labour market documents that technical education is important in developing human capital and the economy of a country (Hanushek & Woessmann, 2007). For developing countries in sub-Saharan African, the presence of natural resources such as crude oil, gold, diamond, bauxite, manganese and others imply that much concern should be devoted to the technical training and education of its citizens as a national development strategy. Likewise, the presence of large natural resources indicates that renew emphasis must be geared toward enhancing the skills of the labour force. Research studies on economic growth and development activities has focused on the important role of skilled labour force in attaining sustainable rate of output growth, lowering poverty and improving social development (Kurt, 2015). The study by Boccanfuso, Larouchet and Trandafir (2015) examine how improvement in higher education has impacted the labour market of highly-educated individuals in Senegal. It focuses on the short-term benefits of the country’s educational reforms in the first decade of the twenty-first century. The authors also emphasized on likely contributions on the quality of the graduates on the labour market in Senegal.

The objectives of this book chapter seek to explore the background of the new labour market and the changes resulting from technological advancement over the past four decades. Similarly, this chapter will examine the historical contexts of the new labour market and its influence on growth and development of economies in developing countries. In so doing, this chapter will delve into the following educational and technological factors that influence the new labour market; (i) the role of education on the new labour market; (ii) the role of training on the new labour market; (iii) the role of technology on the new labour market; (iv) the impact of globalisation on the new labour market in developing countries and (v) the impact of migration on the new labour market. The chapter offers recommendations for enhancing the skilled workforce to meet the needs of the new labour market in developing countries and concludes with an analysis of the suitable policies necessary to foster the attainment of the required technical skills for the new labour market.