Working Together to Advance Africa’s Education and Workforce Future
The Pan-African Education Alliance recognises that Africa’s education and workforce transformation cannot be achieved by one institution, sector, or country acting alone. The scale of the opportunity — and the complexity of the challenges — requires coordinated investment, shared learning, trusted partnerships, and long-term institutional collaboration.
Across the continent, governments, development partners, academic institutions, private sector actors, civil society organisations, educators, and young people are already contributing to meaningful change. However, many efforts remain fragmented, under-resourced, or insufficiently connected to wider systems of policy, research, practice, and implementation.
PEA exists to help strengthen that connective space.
We serve as a collaborative Pan-African platform that brings diverse actors together around shared priorities in education, skills development, leadership, innovation, and future workforce readiness. Our role is to support alignment, facilitate dialogue, encourage practical learning, and contribute to initiatives that are evidence-informed, context-aware, and oriented toward sustainable impact.
For development partners and donors, PEA offers a strategic entry point into Africa’s evolving education and skills ecosystem — a space where investment, insight, convening power, and implementation-conscious engagement can come together.
Our Partnership Philosophy
PEA approaches partnership as more than institutional cooperation. We see it as a long-term commitment to shared purpose, mutual learning, responsible action, and sustainable institutional value.
Our partnership approach is guided by the following principles:
African-Led and Context-Aware Engagement
PEA believes that Africa’s education and workforce priorities must be shaped by African realities, institutions, communities, and leadership. We welcome global knowledge and international cooperation, while remaining committed to approaches that are locally informed, context-sensitive, and responsive to the diversity of the continent.
Systems Thinking
Education transformation is connected to employment, technology, governance, identity, leadership, institutional capacity, and economic development. PEA works with partners who understand that sustainable progress requires attention not only to programmes, but also to the wider systems that shape learning, opportunity, and long-term development outcomes.
Complementarity, Not Duplication
Many organisations are already doing valuable work across Africa. PEA’s role is not to duplicate existing efforts, but to help connect, strengthen, amplify, and align them where appropriate. We are particularly interested in partnerships that create value across institutions, sectors, and regions.
Evidence-Informed Action
PEA values research, applied learning, and insight from practice. We seek to work with partners who are committed to understanding what works, what requires adaptation, and how evidence can better inform policy, programming, investment, and institutional decision-making.
Long-Term Institutional Value
PEA prioritises partnerships that build capacity beyond short-term activity. We are interested in collaboration that strengthens institutions, supports local leadership, promotes sustainability, and contributes to Africa’s long-term education and workforce transformation agenda.
Areas of Collaboration
PEA welcomes partnership conversations across several strategic areas.
Policy Dialogue and Advocacy
PEA supports constructive dialogue around education reform, skills development, youth opportunity, innovation, and workforce readiness. We seek to collaborate with partners interested in strengthening evidence-informed policy conversations and creating spaces where governments, educators, industry, researchers, and development actors can engage meaningfully.
Capacity Strengthening
PEA works to strengthen the capabilities of educators, trainers, institutions, young leaders, and implementation actors. Partnership opportunities may include leadership development, institutional advisory support, professional learning, training ecosystems, and capacity-building initiatives designed around identified needs.
Research and Knowledge Generation
PEA is committed to supporting practical knowledge that informs decision-making. We welcome collaboration on policy briefs, applied research, learning forums, thought leadership, research-to-practice engagement, and knowledge products that contribute to stronger education and skills systems across Africa.
Digital Learning and Innovation
As digital technologies and artificial intelligence reshape learning and work, PEA seeks to collaborate on responsible, inclusive, and context-aware innovation. This includes digital learning, blended education approaches, technology-enabled training, AI literacy, and future-oriented learning systems.
Youth Leadership and Identity
PEA recognises that education is not only about technical knowledge or employability. It is also about identity, confidence, leadership, purpose, ethics, and civic responsibility. We welcome partners interested in nurturing young Africans as leaders, innovators, professionals, and contributors to social and economic transformation.
Future of Work and Skills Development
PEA seeks to engage with partners focused on preparing Africa’s youth, educators, and institutions for changing labour markets. This includes employability, entrepreneurship, vocational relevance, transferable skills, industry alignment, career readiness, and emerging areas linked to technology, sustainability, and innovation.
Convenings, Forums, and Strategic Platforms
PEA aims to create spaces for dialogue, reflection, and collaboration across sectors. These may include conferences, roundtables, policy forums, leadership workshops, knowledge exchanges, and thematic working groups designed to move conversations toward practical engagement.
Who We Seek to Partner With
PEA welcomes collaboration with institutions and actors whose work aligns with Africa’s education, leadership, innovation, and workforce transformation agenda.
This includes development partners and donor agencies, foundations and philanthropic institutions, multilateral and regional organisations, government ministries and public agencies, universities and research institutions, schools and training providers, private sector and industry partners, technology and innovation organisations, civil society organisations, youth-focused platforms, professional associations, and policy networks.
Our ideal partners are those who value collaboration, respect local context, support sustainable capacity, and are open to co-creating approaches that respond to real needs rather than predetermined assumptions.
Why Partner With PEA
PEA is strategically positioned at the intersection of education, policy, research, innovation, leadership, and workforce development.
Through partnership with PEA, development actors and institutional partners can engage with a Pan-African platform focused on education and skills transformation; support initiatives that connect policy, research, and practical implementation; strengthen local and regional capacity; contribute to youth leadership and workforce readiness; participate in strategic dialogue on Africa’s future of learning and work; and advance development priorities through collaborative, context-aware engagement.
PEA’s value lies in its ability to convene, connect, interpret, and help shape collaborative action around some of Africa’s most urgent education and development priorities.
Invitation to Partners
PEA invites development partners, donors, institutions, and strategic collaborators to engage with us in shaping Africa’s education and workforce future.
We welcome conversations around shared priorities, emerging opportunities, pilot engagements, research collaboration, capacity-strengthening initiatives, convenings, and long-term institutional partnerships.
Whether the opportunity begins as a dialogue, a concept note, a joint forum, a pilot initiative, or a broader strategic partnership, PEA is open to working with partners committed to thoughtful, practical, and sustainable transformation.
Together, we can strengthen Africa’s education systems, prepare young people for the future of work, and build the partnerships needed for lasting continental progress.
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