Most Kenyan university students and graduates want jobs in the NGO sector, an Africa-wide survey on economic prospects of the continent has found.
Twenty-three per cent said they want a job in non-governmental organisations, according to the 2025 African Leadership University Africa Workforce Readiness Survey.
The newly released report suggests that this leaves Kenyans at a disadvantage as STEM-related careers show more potential. In contrast to Kenya, job seekers in other African countries prefer to work in sectors such as engineering, financial services and technology.
“Many of the continent’s fastest-growing industries sit within these sectors as economies develop and more people have access to the Internet,” the report notes.
NGOs mainly tackle community problems (health, environment, rights and so on), usually with donor support.
The sector is seen as lucrative and free from direct government bureaucracy.
The survey comes against the backdrop of major disruptions after US President Donald Trump suspended the operations of major global donor USAid.
It was commissioned by the Rwanda-based ALU university and was conducted between March 15 and June 13, 2024.
It targeted employers and school leavers across Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The aim was to get insights into how young people in Africa see their future education prospects and how employers view the future of work in Africa. Another outstanding finding was that just 52 per cent of students surveyed in Kenya said they plan on staying in Africa after completing their education.
This partly reflects Kenya’s high youth unemployment rate, which sits at 67 per cent, the report says.
AFRICAN COMPARISON
The most popular career choices in other African countries were engineering ( 15 per cent), banking and financial services ( 14 per cent), technology and software ( 11 per cent) and the government and public sector ( 11 per cent).
Engineering was a popular choice in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, with 34 per cent and 20 per cent of students surveyed respectively saying they would most like to work in this sector, the report says.
Further, the technology and software sector was most popular in Nigeria ( 15 per cent) and South Africa ( 24 per cent). Twenty cent of students in Ghana said they would prefer working in the banking and financial services sector.
The finance and banking sector was also the most popular choice in Rwanda at 19 per cent. Graduates and university students in South Africa and Zimbabwe preferred the wildlife conservation sector, with some 10 per cent and 9 per cent of them respectively saying they would most like to work in this sector.
Both countries are rich in wildlife and have invested heavily in wildlife management and environmental conservation in recent years. The report explains its mix of small and giant economies as a representation of different income and inequality levels across Africa.
“Some of the largest economies in Africa [included] provide the greatest job opportunities for graduates and have comparatively larger commercial and higher education sectors,” it adds. The large economies in question are Nigeria, South Africa and Ethiopia.
CBC THUMBS UP
Further, the survey found that Kenyan employers sampled were the most optimistic in the continent on hiring a competent graduate with practical experience that fits the job.
This could be a massive win for the new competence-based curriculum that the government is mainstreaming.
The report shows that 54 per cent of Kenyan employer respondents said they strongly agree that they expect to hire graduates, with a significant practical experience that would guarantee them to deliver in their job assignments.
Zimbabwean, Nigerian and Ghanaian employers followed closely at 51 per cent 49 per cent and 46 per cent respectively in expressing confidence in their system equipping the prospective employees with practical skills.
Another 37 per cent of Kenyans said they slightly agreed. Further, the report says Kenyan employers have a positive view of the country’s higher education, showing that the lot leads in the continent in believing that graduates are better prepared for the job market.
Forty per cent of Kenyan employers and 54 per cent said they strongly agree and slightly agree respectively that the country’s higher education prepares graduates well for the job market.
To better prepare graduates for the job market, the report says, Kenyan employers recommend impartation of leadership skills among graduates.
Only 29 per cent of Kenyan employers want emphasis on technical skills. Overall, 63 per cent employers in the continent ask strongly for inclusion of leadership skills in the university training.
Some 89 per cent of employers surveyed in Kenya believe that higher education institutions should focus more on developing leadership skills to better prepare graduates’ employability skills.
Majority ( 62 per cent) of Kenyan employers also indicated that they are looking for initiative and self-direction among graduates that they seek to employ, the survey shows. They are also looking mainly for digital and innovative skills ( 69 ) and analytical thinking ( 61 ).
At the same time, 59 per cent of Kenyan employers, especially in the private sector, feel strongly confident that the next generation of graduates can help their businesses grow.
This score, again, is leading in the continent, showing that Kenyan employers are the most confident of the training the prospective employees receive in universities in the country.
Overall, 64 per cent of employers in Africa feel confident that the next generation of graduates can help their business grow.
JOB MARKET OPTIMISM
Also, 57 per cent of Kenyan employers show optimism in the future growth of the African economy, seeing potential opportunities.
Overall, two-thirds ( 66 per cent) of employers feel optimistic about the future of Africa’s economy. In response to the findings of the survey, Higher Education Principal Secretary Betty Inyangala said the state is reimagining higher education in the country.
It is fusing innovative and leadership skills with problem solving skills to meet the current and future industry problems, she said.
“The Ministry of Education has embraced competency-based education and training, career guidance, innovative research and innovations to enhance access, equity and relevance in education and training,” Inyangala said.
She said the country is headed in the right trajectory in transforming universities into research and innovation hubs to fit into future global labour demands.
“Through the Commission for University Education, accreditation ensures quality in university education to make them relevant to the industry needs,” the PS said.
In response to the evolving industry needs, collaborations and partnerships have been strengthened between local and international universities in collaborative research and student and staff exchanges, Inyangala said.
To bridge the skills gap, she said, university and industries linkages have been strengthened through apprenticeships, attachments and internships.
With regards to emerging issues like artificial intelligence that threaten the future of work, the PS said the country’s higher learning institutions like universities are keen on integrating artificial intelligence into university education as a complementary pedagogy.
“The government has been establishing digital infrastructure in the universities to enhance digitalisation [in this effort],” she said.
METHODS USED
In terms of methodology, the surveys were conducted using a mixture of in-person and online interfaces.
Each of the surveys had a maximum of 13 questions and were tested to ensure they took less than three minutes to complete online and less than five minutes on average to complete in-person, the report says.
Multiple sampling techniques tailored to each specific country were also employed to ensure the target populations were accurately represented, and the results from each survey are as meaningful and reliable as possible.
The total number of responses from all surveys was 7,880, with 3,927 business survey responses and 3,953 student survey responses.
The total number of responses from the business and student surveys from each country ranged from 800 in the Côte D’Ivoire to 1,008 in Kenya. Fifty per cent of the respondents were male, 49 per cent female and the remaining one per cent did not disclose their gender.
The majority of the students surveyed were between 15 and 22 years old and in their final year of study.
The business leaders surveyed came from a range of Small or Medium Enterprise (SMEs), large enterprises and multinational companies.
They hold a mixture of entry-level, middle management and senior
leadership roles and in variety of
sectors.