New findings show a critical gap in AI skills across SA, Kenya, and Nigeria, despite widespread recognition of their importance, writes JASON BANNIER

As generative AI adoption accelerates and the pursuit of artificial general intelligence gains momentum, key African markets are facing a widening AI skills gap despite universal recognition of their importance.

New research reveals that 61% of mid-size and enterprise-level companies in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa consider AI skills to be ‘extremely important’, while another 38% regard them as ‘very important’. Together, this reflects a near-unanimous 99% consensus that AI skills are critical to business success.

This is unveiled in Africa’s AI Skills Readiness Revealed, a report commissioned by SAP and conducted at the end of 2024. The findings provide insights into how African companies are transforming their skills development efforts to meet the demands of the age of AI.

“The business impact of a lack of AI skills availability is already evident, with 90% of companies in our research citing negative impacts that include project delays, failed innovation initiatives, and an inability to take on new work,” said Nazia Pillay, interim MD for SA at SAP, during a media briefing last week. “This year’s data shows the pervasive need for AI skills across African organisations, and the negative impact, both on performance, competitiveness and innovation when organisations lack these skills.

“Our first report was conducted just as we exited the worst of the pandemic impact. At the time, companies were facing several challenges with attracting, retaining and upskilling suitable qualified tech workers, especially in the wake of the rise of remote and hybrid work environments. This year, the business landscape has been transformed by the impact of AI technologies and the search for relevant skills.”

The research uncovered two key findings that received unanimous agreement. All respondents expect demand for AI skills to increase in 2025, with nearly half anticipating a ‘significant’ rise. This anticipated surge in demand highlights the urgency for businesses to strengthen their AI capabilities to remain competitive.

In addition, all companies foresee some level of AI-related skills gap this year, underscoring the urgency of developing and retaining AI talent. The widespread expectation of a skills gap suggests that organisations are bracing for challenges in accessing the expertise needed to implement AI-driven projects effectively.

“Skills related to AI are hugely in-demand among African organisations, with 85% saying AI development skills are a priority, and 83% prioritising generative AI skills,” said Pillay. “To help close the AI skills gap, two-thirds of organisations are introducing career development initiatives with AI specialisation to upskill or reskill employees.”

To close the gap, companies are adopting a range of strategies beyond career development programmes. These include automating IT processes (66%), upskilling existing employees (58%), recruiting new talent with AI expertise (52%), and bringing in external specialists (45%).

The most in-demand tech skill among African organisations is cybersecurity, with 86% of companies identifying it as important – up from 63% in the previous research. Pillay said this rise is likely driven by the rapid growth of Africa’s digital economy and the increasing number of citizens entering the digital space through public and private sector initiatives.

Training, skills development in the spotlight

Pillay said companies are stepping up their IT training and skills development efforts to help meet the demand for skills. Additionally, the portion of companies’ IT or HR budgets allocated to skills-related initiatives has declined since 2023.

“Ninety-four percent of African organisations offer training and skills development to employees at least monthly, an increase from 74% in our last survey. The number of companies offering training opportunities to employees at any time also increased from 28% in our last survey to 37% this year.

“The drop in budget allocation for skills development requires an urgent rethink. Organisations that don’t invest in appropriate skills now may find they are unable to leverage new innovations and emerging technologies, leaving them trailing their more skills-enable competitors.”

Pillay said that rescaling and upscaling is considered one of the top skills-related challenges for all African organisations this year. The findings reveal that 37% of organisations make training available to their employees at any time, and 98% of organisations see AI training as top priority.

These findings suggest that while organisations are expanding access to training, they may not be backing this up with sufficient investment. The disconnect between growing training efforts and shrinking budgets points to a need for more strategic allocation of resources. Without sustained financial commitment, companies risk falling short in equipping their workforce with the skills required to remain competitive in an AI-driven economy.

Changing workplace expectations

Workplace expectations are shifting rapidly as organisations adapt to new technologies and changing employee priorities. In addition to technical expertise, companies are placing greater emphasis on non-technical attributes such as adaptability and affordability. These changes are driven in part by the growing need to upskill and reskill employees for roles shaped by artificial intelligence, as well as by evolving preferences around hybrid and remote work.

“80% of organisations said that enabling hybrid and remote work is their biggest tech related skills challenge – up from 32% in our last survey,” said Pillay. “Now, 58% of organisations offer fully remote options, and 56% of organisations have a hybrid option which they use to attract and retain top talent. When you look at employees, 83% of employees globally consider hybrid working to be an ideal environment.

“In 2023, technical skills and industry-specific skills were the top attributes. Affordability was somewhere near the bottom, with less than a third of organisations saying they consider it during the hiring process. This year, affordability is the number one candidate attribute for African organisations, with adaptability a close second.

“Reskilling is a top skills-related priority for 38% of companies this year, with 48% saying the same of upskilling employees. Unsurprisingly, two-thirds of companies said helping employees understand why reskilling is necessary is one of the top challenges this year.”

* Read SAP’s ‘Africa’s AI Skills Readiness Revealed’ report here.

*Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and writer for Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Bluesky at @jas2bann.

This article first appeared in Gadget.