African leaders have endorsed a comprehensive 10-year implementation plan designed to position the continent as a hub for digital innovation, skills development, and sustainable growth. The initiative marks a strategic shift from reliance on raw materials toward value creation driven by technology and human capital, aiming to harness Africa’s demographic dividend for long-term economic transformation.
The plan was unveiled during the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, where heads of state and policymakers agreed to align education, science, and industrial development under a unified transformation agenda spanning 2025 to 2034. Central to the strategy are three continent-wide frameworks: the African Strategy for Science, Technology, and Innovation (STISA-2034), the Continental Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategy (2025–2034), and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 26–35). These initiatives aim to convert Africa’s growing youth population into a skilled workforce capable of driving digital, green, and industrial economies.
Speaking at the AU headquarters, Gaspard Banyankimbona, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, highlighted the urgent need to translate demographic growth into economic strength. He warned that delays in education and skills reforms could turn the continent’s youth advantage into a source of instability, emphasizing the importance of immediate action.
Under the Education and Skills Development Decade of Transition, AU member states committed to ensuring basic literacy for all children by 2034, while equipping youth with skills aligned with digital technologies, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing, and environmental management. These priorities are intended to strengthen industrialisation under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and reinforce regional value chains.
A major policy shift focuses on repositioning Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as a driver of innovation rather than a fallback option. The strategy emphasizes entrepreneurship, digital skills, artificial intelligence, robotics, and applied engineering, supported by plans to establish national innovation centres across all 55 AU member states.
To finance these initiatives, the AU launched the Africa Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation Fund (AESTIF) in partnership with the African Development Bank. The fund addresses chronic underinvestment in research and development, encouraging member states to allocate at least 1 percent of GDP to R&D. A new continental index will track progress in education, creativity, and innovation capacity.
Leaders recognized that ongoing conflicts in some regions strain public resources but emphasized governance reform and institutional resilience as key to sustaining development gains. AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf highlighted the role of peer-review mechanisms in strengthening accountability and long-term policy coordination.
Beyond education and technology, the AU also focused on sustainability, designating 2026 as the Year of Ensuring Sustainable Water Supply and Reliable Sanitation Systems. The Africa Water Vision 2063 and Policy frames water as a strategic economic and political asset, requiring cross-border cooperation to secure its management.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos stressed that Africa’s growing influence in global forums, including the G20, must translate into stronger representation in international financial institutions and global governance structures. He called for deeper continental unity to prevent Africa from becoming a stage for geopolitical rivalry.
By 2034, AU leaders envision a continent capable of developing artificial intelligence in African languages, expanding clean energy industries, locally manufacturing vaccines, and competing in advanced technology sectors. The Addis Ababa summit represents a pivotal moment in aligning education, innovation, and sustainability under Agenda 2063, reflecting Africa’s ambition to emerge as a global creator of knowledge, value, and technological advancement.
