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Building e-skills in Africa

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Listed:
  • Ben Youssef, Adel
  • Bester, Coetzee
  • Chuka, Aduba
  • Dahmani, Mounir
  • Malan, Beverley

Abstract

This chapter discusses what kind of strategies are needed to improve people’s e-skills in Africa. A hybrid between technological and organizational skills, e-skills are becoming the cornerstone of human development in the 21st century. They allow ICT to be used to its full extent— fostering economic growth, social inclusion, health and education services, and poverty reduction. Hence, significant progress in e-skills development is possible in Africa, but it will require system-wide changes. Small-scale programs and local reforms often fail to achieve the desired large-scale effects. More equitable access, quality, relevance, and effectiveness of e-skills development cannot depend solely on scaling up “best practices.” Attention needs to be paid to the governance environment in which e-skills programs take place.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Youssef, Adel & Bester, Coetzee & Chuka, Aduba & Dahmani, Mounir & Malan, Beverley, 2014. "Building e-skills in Africa," MPRA Paper 112240, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2014.
  • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:112240
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ICT use; e-skills; economic impacts; employability; socioeconomic inclusion; Africa;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O1 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • Q55 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Technological Innovation

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