In no region other than Africa is the trade-off drawn more sharply between the achievement of skills development with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and providing universal basic education. Both are important to economic growth and poverty reduction, but the fiscal and administrative capacity of the state to meet both goals is limited. The presence of HIV/AIDS and its de-skilling of the labor force compounds the problem. Defining the role of the state more strategically in the provision and financing of TVET is essential to achieving Education for All and the poverty...

Sub-Saharan Africa has millions of nonfarm workers engaged in small and household enterprises outside formal wage employment, constituting the informal sector. Previously seen as a pool of surplus labor expected to be absorbed by future industrialization, this sector has instead become a persistent feature of the region's economic landscape, and accounts for a majority of new jobs created off the farm. Expanding the sector's potential as a source of employment for the region's growing workforce and improving its productivity and earnings are priorities for poverty reduction. This book...