<\/p>\n
The event will bring together AU Member States, regional bodies, industry representatives, academia, youth groups, development partners, civil society and international organisations to focus on skills development, employment and industrial transformation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The meeting will be held under the theme \u201cSkills for resilient and competitive African industries: from training to value creation.\u201d The theme reflects efforts to strengthen the link between education and labour markets while positioning skills development as a driver of economic growth and inclusion.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The programme builds on outcomes from Africa Skills Week 2025, which attracted more than 850 participants and saw the launch of the Continental Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategy for 2025 to 2034. That framework aims to align skills systems with industrialisation priorities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Africa Skills Week serves as a continental platform for policy dialogue and partnership building. It focuses on improving skills systems through stronger coordination, expanded technical and vocational education and training, and increased use of innovation and technology.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 2026 edition will address ongoing challenges such as low enrolment in training programmes, outdated facilities and the need to align education systems with changing labour market demands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The programme will include high-level plenary sessions, a ministerial and private sector roundtable, and sector-focused discussions on skills development across key industries. It will also feature a marketplace and exhibition showcasing national and regional initiatives, as well as youth-led innovations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A dedicated platform for women and youth entrepreneurs will support engagement through networking, mentorship and business development activities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Field visits to industrial parks, training centres and innovation hubs in Zimbabwe are expected to demonstrate practical approaches to skills development and industry partnerships. These visits will highlight areas such as apprenticeships, enterprise-based training and the use of digital and green technologies.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Member States are expected to use the event to develop country-level action plans aligned with continental strategies. The outcomes of the week will be consolidated into a communiqu\u00e9 outlining commitments and follow-up actions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The AU Commission said the event aims to strengthen collaboration across the continent and support implementation of policies focused on employment, productivity and economic transformation.<\/p>\n
–AU\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":34778,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-35702","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The African Union (AU) Commission has announced Zimbabwe as the host of Africa Skills Week 2026, scheduled to take place from October 12 to October 16.","published_date":"","news_description":"The African Union (AU) Commission has announced Zimbabwe as the host of Africa Skills Week 2026, scheduled to take place from October 12 to October 16.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35703,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35702\/revisions\/35703"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}