A smart training platform to improve young people’s employability

Challenge

Sub-Saharan Africa faces high levels of youth unemployment and underemployment amid rapid population growth and profound changes in the world of work. Education systems are struggling to keep pace with evolving skills demands, particularly in the digital and technology sectors.

As a result, many young people, including graduates, remain unable to secure meaningful employment due to a lack of practical, job-ready competencies. Meanwhile, those already in employment are increasingly confronted with the rapid obsolescence of their expertise, limiting both productivity and opportunities for career advancement.

This disconnect between education and labour market needs disproportionately affects young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities with limited access to quality learning opportunities, further deepening social and economic inequalities.

Innovative solution

MARA ACADEMY offers a digital training model focused on the jobs of the future, combining online learning, personalised mentoring and work placements within companies.
The solution is based on two complementary programmes:

• an integration programme for disadvantaged young people, based on a deferred payment scheme once they have secured employment;
• a retraining and upskilling programme for professionals.

The teaching approach prioritises ‘learning by doing’, through real-world case studies and progressive work experience placements. This model aligns the interests of the training organisation and the participants, as repayment is conditional on securing employment.
To ensure an inclusive approach, MARA ACADEMY is also setting up learning hubs, enabling young people without access to a computer or the internet to undertake training in conditions suited to local realities.

Targeted impact

• A fivefold increase in the number of disadvantaged young people trained under the YEA programme (co-funded by the LCF)
• Nearly 80 additional young people placed in jobs following the work placement phase, across all areas
• 80 new partner companies onboarded to recruit young people who have completed their training