Africa Skills Week 2025 Opens in Addis Ababa with Call to Build a Skilled, Inclusive, and Innovative Africa

Addis Ababa, October 14, 2025 (FMC) – The African Union (AU) has officially launched the second edition of Africa Skills Week (ASW) at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the theme “Powering Africa’s Industrial Future: Skills for Innovation, Growth, and Sustainability.”

The event brings together policymakers, industry leaders, educators, youth, and development partners to drive actionable solutions for skills development aligned with industrialization, sustainability, and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

ASW 2025 focuses on strengthening skills for industrial growth and innovation, enhancing inclusive, quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), fostering public-private partnerships and regional collaboration, and leveraging digital and green technologies for workforce readiness.

In his opening remarks, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, emphasized that Africa’s transformation depends on investing in skills, science, technology, and innovation to unlock its demographic and resource potential.

He highlighted that skills development lies at the heart of Agenda 2063, the AfCFTA, and the Continental TVET Strategy 2025–2034, launched during the event.

Youssouf outlined five AU priorities: strengthening policy coherence and regional integration; accelerating TVET implementation; ensuring inclusive, high-quality, and future-ready skills systems; fostering partnerships and knowledge sharing; and sustaining the Decade of Education and Skills Development.

He called for collective commitment from governments, the private sector, academia, and civil society to transform Africa from a consumer of technologies to a producer of innovation, where African youth lead the continent’s industrialization, digital transformation, and sustainable growth.