Experts advocate for project management skills acquisition to complement university degrees

Stakeholders in the project management industry across the continent have called on young Africans to acquire project management skills to complement their university degrees.

This was made in a statement signed by George Asamani, MD, PMI Sub-Saharan Africa, and Sanele W Nhlabatsi, Senior Lecturer, Project Management, UNISA.

Recommending project management as an alternative, Asamani said, in project management, for example, young people can build a career through certifications straight out of high school.

“ They can begin with the foundational Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) as an early-career professional certification. The certification can open doors to employability or entrepreneurial opportunities. The pursuit of a higher education qualification can be targeted for a later phase, informed by a real-world knowledge base requirement. As they gain experience, they can progress toward globally recognised advanced certifications such as the Project Management Professional (PMP).”

He said, “The reality is unavoidable: even the best universities cannot admit everyone. Expanding and legitimising alternative pathways has the potential to equip the continent’s youth with the skills needed to drive innovation, accelerate economic growth, and advance sustainable development. Africa’s future will not be built by a single educational route, but by an ecosystem of pathways that recognise skills, competence, adaptability, and lifelong learning.”

The statement said, “The first is scale. Africa is home to the world’s youngest and fastest-growing population, with more than 400 million people aged 15–35, and it  is expected to have the world’s largest workforce by 2040. Yet tertiary enrolment remains around 9%, far below the global average of 38%.Higher education capacity is still struggling to keep pace with demographic demand, with some estimates suggesting capacity would need to expand nearly twelvefold by 2035.

Dr. Sanele W Nhlabatsi, Senior Lecturer, Project Management, UNISA, added that “The second crisis is a crisis of expectation. It is not difficult to see why many African families place such a high premium on university education. A degree has long been associated with a life-changing opportunity and a pathway to better job prospects, higher income, and social mobility. This belief has quietly become a burden African youth carry, because when university becomes the only door to success, young people who don’t get in don’t just lose a place; they feel as though they have lost a future.”