Green skills in Africa: Comparative insights from South Africa, Guinea and Ghana
In this paper, Katja van der Meer and Pauline Veron examine how South Africa, Guinea and Ghana are developing green skills and what role the EU and China play.
This paper is the second part of a series – read part one here.
Summary
This paper examines how South Africa, Guinea and Ghana are developing the green skills needed for an equitable and effective green transition, and the role that both the European Union and China have in supporting green skills in these three countries. Across the three countries, the green transition unfolds amid several challenges: fragility, high levels of unemployment and dependence on coal (South Africa), extractive sectors (Guinea) and petroleum oil (Ghana). Although each country faces distinct pressures, a common challenge is the limited capacity of education and training systems to produce the foundational and technical skills required to effectively sustain a national green economy.
Both the EU and China are key partners for these countries in their green transition. In this paper, we argue that a more demand-driven, system-strengthening approach, which is anchored in local ownership, will be essential if green skills are to support a just and sustainable economic transformation. The EU is a recognised actor that supports TVET and (green) skills development in all of the three countries. China is most known for investments in infrastructure, but it is also an actor in green skills, often tied to major infrastructure projects, but also initiatives such as the Luban workshops. However, their respective approaches are evolving and, while remarkable differences remain, similarities also arise.
