On 15 July 2025 the world marks the 10^th anniversary of World Youth Skills Day (WYSD), focusing on the theme of Youth empowerment through Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital skills. With the Fourth Industrial Revolution well underway, reshaping economies through digital transformation and rapid advances in AI, it is critical to equip youth with future-ready skills. Technology and AI are transforming how we live, learn and work. This represents a wealth of opportunities but also poses serious risks if people – and our youth in particular – lack the skills to take advantage of them.

South Africa’s youth development legislation, such as the National Youth Policy (NYP) 2020-2030, has done much to integrate our youth into the economy with the aim of overcoming persistent challenges in unemployment and inequality. While we have made made significant strides in establishing institutions and policies for youth development, the scale of youth unemployment remains of enormous concern – rising to a staggering 40.4% for young people aged 25-34 in May of this year. In light of the digital transformation of our society, our economy and our workplaces it is impossible to understate the need for targeted interventions that enable young people to access meaningful work.

In January 2024, there were 45.34 million Internet users in South Africa, setting the Internet penetration rate at 74.7% of the total population. From this, we can assume that the majority of South Africans have at least some basic digital skills, such as using email, browsing the Internet, and basic word processing. But in a rapidly digitalising world these basic skills are insufficient to create access to meaningful work. Instead, intermediate digital skills like working with spreadsheets and databases, and more advanced skills, such as those needed for data analysis or cybersecurity, are increasingly necessary even at entry level.

According to the StatsSA General Household Survey 2024, only about a quarter of South African households (25,3%) own at least one personal computer. This, then, begs the question – without access to tools and equipment, how can young South Africans develop the intermediate and advanced digital skills that the modern workplace demands? A strategic approach to skills development facilitation is crucial to address this situation and enables business to move from competing for the skills they need to training and developing the skills they need.

In South Africa’s Communications & Digital Technology Infrastructure Roadmap, 80% of employers report that their employees have basic digital skills, 25% say their employees have intermediate digital skills, and only 10% report that their employees have advanced digital skills. For young people to access meaningful work opportunities, and for businesses to recruit young employees with workplace-applicable skills, the importance of providing training on intermediate digital skills can’t be overlooked. It’s exciting to talk about AI, data analytics and cybersecurity, but we must not forget to teach the foundations.

To develop intermediate and advanced skills amongst young South Africans, Afri Training Institute partners with our clients to offer SAQA accredited training in the Microsoft Office Suite’s most-used workplace tools – Word and Excel. These don’t sound sexy in all the excitement about AI and digital transformation, but without these skills young people are excluded from meaningful and uplifting work opportunities. Learners complete our programmes with real-world, practical skills – the lack of which increasingly represents the first barrier to entry if they are to participate in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Empowering youth with essential digital skills is vital for meaningful employment and economic progress. Investment in targeted training ensures South Africa’s young people can thrive in an ever-evolving digital world.