From learning to earning: how to accelerate Africa's digital economy?
Marina Madale, MTN group executive: sustainability and shared value
Madale was speaking during a panel discussion entitled 'Building Africa's digital talent pipeline', on the first day of the 2025 Trialogue Business in Society Conference. The session was presented in partnership with the MTN South Africa Foundation.
The development-focused conference took place at The Galleria in Sandton, Johannesburg, under the theme 'Driving impact, inspiring change'. MTN was one of six corporate sponsors that partnered with Trialogue to discuss topical issues in corporate social investment (CSI), philanthropy and development in South Africa.
Madale was joined on the panel by Lisema Matsietsi (senior technical advisor – Private sector engagement in employment promotion at GIZ); Lesala Ketheng (training manager at the EBL Institute of Business and Technology); and Chuma Memela (co-founder of Gambuu and director of Genie-yus AI). They discussed how demand-led skilling is one of the factors that can address the dire unemployment rate in South Africa and many other African countries.
Madale noted that public-private partnerships and collaborations will be essential to developing a pool of skilled young digital professionals.
An ecosystem-based approach to digital skills
Madale emphasised MTN's commitment to long-term impact through the MTN Skills Academy, which was launched in 2022. The digital platform that bridges the gap between learning and earning, and rests on four integrated pillars: career guidance (in partnership with PACE), rapid upskilling, from digital literacy to advanced 'nano degrees', work readiness, and job access, using AI to match youth with real-time opportunities.
'Our aim is to build Africa's largest job portal,' Madale explained. 'However, MTN is not a training company – our strength is connectivity. This is why we have partnered with providers like Coursera, and are in conversation with other companies – we want to create an integrated ecosystem of partners.'
The platform also addresses the reality of post-matric youth who cannot access university due to cost or capacity constraints. By combining high-demand, targeted learning with job connectivity, it offers a scalable alternative to traditional education pathways.
Madale acknowledged that many young South Africans and broader Africans can't join the technology revolution as they lack access, infrastructure, devices and more. This is why the company takes an ecosystem-based approach to the challenge. The ultimate aim is to develop not only digital skills but also adaptability, critical thinking, and other capabilities that will help Africa become more resilient and solve its own problems, Madale added.
Aligning skills to jobs
The German development agency GIZ is working with MTN and the South African government to align education and skills development with the rapidly evolving digital economy.
'We're building bridges between training providers and employers through demand-led skilling,' said the GIZ's Matsietsi. 'Instead of investing in the dark, we're co-developing curricula based on real job descriptions and tracking transitions from training to employment.'
Matsietsi said the GIZ is currently testing a pipeline from TVET colleges to jobs, then looking at non-traditional training providers to assist. He cited platforms like Collective_X, a Harambee initiative that aims to place digitally skilled young people in jobs, and the Youth Employment Service, the highest-impact private sector youth employment programme in South Africa, which help to bring skilled youth into employment. Five 'top' career pathways identified by the GIZ include cybersecurity, cloud computing, data analysis, software development, and content development.
In addition, the GIZ partners with public bodies such as the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies and the National Electronic Media Institute of SA to enable the joint testing of scalable, data-driven models that will tackle youth unemployment.
The agency emphasises inclusivity, applying gender and disability lenses, and attempts to reduce drop-out rates.
Khetheng stressed the urgent need for programmes that offer real-world, job-ready training, not just certificates. 'The gap isn't only skills – it's experience, access to mentorship, and infrastructure,' he noted. 'Many learners don't have reliable laptops, internet access, or even digital literacy. You can't work remotely on a laptop operating Windows 7, for example.'
He stressed the importance of human-centred approaches: practical exposure, peer mentorship, and psychological support to help learners thrive in difficult socioeconomic environments.
AI ushers in opportunities
Despite anxiety around artificial intelligence, the panellists were confident that AI's transformative potential should be harnessed, not resisted.
'AI isn't going to destroy jobs – it's going to transform them,' asserted Memela, himself a graduate of the EBL Institute of Business and Technology, and one of its ''champions' who is part of the mentorship pipeline.
He currently teaches entrepreneurs to become 'super-employees' – multi-skilled generalists who can combine digital skills with critical thinking. 'We shouldn't be debating whether 19-year-olds should use AI when countries like China and the United States are teaching it in primary school,' he added, saying educational institutions need to adapt to meet the job needs of the future.
It is also important to mentor young people and bring them into the system. 'I am a beneficiary of opportunity – I have to pay it forward,' Memela concluded.
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