Africa is trying to overcome the challenge of having significant shortage of engineering skills. The shortage is felt throughout the continent while amplified in some parts. For example, in 2013, UNESCO Director-General, said that, “in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, there is one qualified engineer for a population of 6000 people–compared to one engineer per 200 people in China [and 1/311 in UK; 1/227 in Brazil].” In one sector (water and sanitation), it was estimated that 2.5 million new engineers and technicians are required in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in order to meet the development goals on access to clean water and sanitation. Yet, paradoxically, many engineering graduates in the same countries mentioned above, and others, find it difficult to land employment in engineering fields. Although it may sound confusing at first, that demand for engineers and unemployment of engineers happen simultaneously, a valid explanation is not only about the number of engineers in the job market, but the number of engineers (and engineering practitioners in general) with matching skills for the jobs awaiting them. What this means is that the bottleneck in this line of progress–from studying to graduation to professional career–may be found around how and when new engineers are prepared for work with combined employment skills that are not all ‘core’ engineering skills (i.e., the basic skills taught in standard engineering academic programs). Such combined skills may be called ‘employability skills’ and they encompass, besides core engineering skills, others such as reliable communication, task and time management, familiarity with local processes and industrial standards, and related administrative skills. In addition to that, other explanations could evoke policies and practices related to incentive frameworks for engineering skills in any given society (e.g., career satisfaction, financial incentives and work environments). In any case, all possible, valid explanations deserve investigation.
