The skills balancing act: a review of the 2019 World Bank report on skills development in Sub-Saharan Africa

This article critically reviews the World Bank's latest high-profile report on skills development in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the Report's prescriptions and recommendations are broadly in line with those of national skills development strategies elsewhere in both the developed and developing world, its overall analysis is quite limited and superficial. In particular, it lacks any in-depth, historically grounded and contextualised understanding of the actual provision of technical and vocational education and training in SSA including the outcomes and impacts of key policy interventions to date.