Collaboration with Employers is Key to Increasing Employability for African Talent

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO, DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA,, ABUJA, NIGERIA, TUNIS, TUNISIA, May 24, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Building on its inaugural report, the pan-African higher education network, Honoris United Universities, today launched the annual Honoris Student Employability Report for 2023, examining the perspectives of industry leaders and its response in providing future-ready graduates.

The report this year examines the needs of employers, by engaging a diverse selection of 100 corporate partners for their views. In the findings, 68% of respondents reported that sourcing talent is a significant challenge, particularly pronounced in the IT and Business & Finance sectors. The identified labor shortages underscore the need for curriculum alignment with industry demands. 90% of employers reported that cognitive skills, such as analytical and creative thinking, are the most crucial in their hiring strategies, closely followed by self-efficacy measures, such as resilience, curiosity, and lifelong learning.

The network’s intentional approach to building agile employability functions across its 16 institutions and 85,000 students continue to drive employability outcomes, ensuring that graduates are equipped with 21st-century skills – such as behavioral intelligence, critical thinking, creativity and design thinking, communication, collaboration, coding, data analytics, and entrepreneurship – to make a positive contribution to their workplaces.

Honoris institutions invest in strategic industry partnerships and collaborations that promote mutually beneficial learning. On average, Honoris graduates secured jobs within less than three months of graduating, while 35% of working adult students received a promotion or salary increase within 6 months. The pioneering pan-African platform holds over 800 partnerships across 10 industries, the top five being IT; Communication Services; Industrials; Financials; and Healthcare. Multinational corporations operating within Africa make up 25% of these, illustrating the shifting landscape of employment opportunities for African graduates.

Honoris Group CEO, Dr. Jonathan Louw, said “Bridging the skills gap through industry experience and academic integration includes co-designed training programs and expanded professional horizons for our graduates. This year’s report delves into how we have invested in the creative industry, implemented inclusive strategies for entrepreneurship, and worked to close the gender gap on key empowerment measures such as access to jobs, pay, and leadership. Our report concludes with a vision of building Africa's future through talent development and impactful employer partnerships.”

Honoris continues to disrupt traditional pedagogies with innovative, relevant academic models, using a best-of-breed approach to increase access to qualitative, affordable, and scalable higher education. The network remains agile, adaptive, and collective in its mission to transform higher education, enhancing teaching and learning and focusing on student success.

Access the full Honoris Student Employability Report here.

James Deacon
Honoris United Universities
+233 55 433 4778
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