Skills without networks equals potential without impact.
In recent years, thousands of young people across Africa have enrolled in TVETs, workshops, and apprenticeship programs to gain practical, employable skills. From masonry to mechanics, tailoring to plumbing, youth are increasingly stream in and out of these TVETs. According to Education News, Nation Africa and The Star: approximately 297,505 students enrolled in public TVET institutions in FY 2021/22. This number increased to 345,387 in FY 2022/23 and it rose further to 406,649 in FY 2023/24. In fact, the total TVET enrollment reached stretched the trainer-to-trainee ratios beyond recommended levels. And still, the government aims to ramp up to 1 million enrollments by end of 2025.
So, youths are being trained and are gaining skills, and yet many remain unemployed or underutilized. Why is that? It is definitely not not because they lack skill, is it? African Skills Network believes that it is because they lack a network.
Skill is the Start, Not the Finish
Training institutions do a great job teaching technical skills: how to weld, install, repair, bake, build, make et cetera. But the real world doesn’t operate on skills alone. Jobs come through relationships. Business comes through trust. Division of labor and specializations employ specific expertise. And opportunities often come through someone who knows someone.
That’s the missing link: connection.
Why a Network Matters for Skilled Youth
- Opportunities Don’t Always Reach the Skilled: Many jobs are never advertised publicly. They’re filled through referrals, word-of-mouth, or internal databases. Without a network, young skilled professionals don’t hear about these openings. In some cases, those who hear it have no one around them to refer.
- Exposure Builds Confidence: Being part of a network exposes youth to new ideas, mentors, success stories, struggles, strategies and standards that elevate their self-image and ambition.
- Support Systems and community Reduces Dropout: Entrepreneurship and informal work can be isolating. Skilled youth without encouragement, advice, or peer support may give up too soon. Networks provide belonging and resilience.
- Ethics and Identity Need Community: The temptation to use skills for harm (e.g., crime, fraud, shortcuts) grows when a young person is alone. Networks help instill values, accountability, and faith in ethical work. A well-built network can filter out unscrupulous individuals in the sectors.
- A Network Multiplies Impact: One trained youth is powerful. But a network of 100 skilled, visible, connected young people can build a community, transform an industry, and shape a nation. This is the very idea ASN has. Let’s briefly look at it.
The African Skills Network (ASN)
At ASN, we believe that Africa’s growth depends not just on training youth, but connecting them—to each other, to mentors, to experts, to institutions, and to work. That’s why we:
- Build a trusted platform where skilled professionals are profiled and promoted
- Create learning communities for personal growth, job readiness, and wellness
- Link members to employers, industry partners, and government initiatives
- Celebrate and share stories of skilled youth rising with dignity and values
Final Thought: Training Gives Tools. Networks not only Opens Doors, it also creates them.
If you’re a skilled young person, don’t walk alone. Find a network that sees you, supports you, and stands with you. You have found it – African Skills Network.
If you’re an institution or employer, ask yourself: Are we only training youth? Or are we also connecting them to a future?
Because skills without networks = potential without impact.
