Experts forecast economic surge, skills revolution

As 2025 draws to a close, a new wave of confidence is sweeping through the global boardroom, signaling a definitive shift from the cautious outlook that defined much of the year.

According to the latest McKinsey Global Survey on economic conditions, surveyed executives are finishing the year with renewed faith in both the macroeconomic environment and their own companies’ performance.

The McKinsey report revealed that while trade policy changes were previously viewed as the primary risk to growth, attention has now turned toward geopolitical instability and conflicts.

Despite these concerns, the report noted that  there  was  a tangible sense of momentum as leaders prioritize customer engagement and technology investments over broader macroeconomic worries.

This optimism, the report maintained  is reflected in profit expectations; although the share of respondents expecting increased demand is at its lowest point since 2020, they remain more than twice as likely to expect improving demand rather than a decrease.

In Africa, the narrative is one of “resilience forged by hard-won gains,” according to African Development Bank Group.

 While the continent’s growth outlook for 2025 was slightly downgraded to 3.9 percent due to seismic shifts in global trade and aid cuts,  the bank  projected  21 African countries would  to grow by more than 5 percent this year.  The report  emphasised a necessary paradigm shift: “If Africa invests in itself, leverages its strengths, and governs its resources wisely, boundless possibilities lie ahead to decouple from external dependence”.

Its African Economic Outlook 2025 highlighted a staggering potential for domestic resource mobilisation, suggesting that deep reforms could unlock an additional $1.43 trillion annually from fiscal, natural, and human capital. The figure exceeded the $1.3 trillion annual financing gap required to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The report asserted that making Africa’s capital work better is a “governance and leadership imperative”.

Simultaneously, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 underscored a period of intense labor market transformation.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, it  noted that 64 per cent  of businesses identify an increased focus on labor and social issues as a key trend through 2030, followed closely by the rising cost of living and broadening digital access. However, the report indicated significant barriers remain, with many regional companies citing widespread skills gaps and a shortage of investment capital as primary hurdles to transformation.

The report noted that specialised roles in AI, big data, and cybersecurity are among the fastest-growing skills needed globally, yet the African Development Bank warned that skill mismatches persist due to education systems that have not kept pace with market needs.

In response, organisations, such as AVANA, a Center of Excellence at Africa Business School, are working to bridge these gaps.

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During its pivotal 2024-2025 period, AVANA implemented projects focused on value-driven management and digital transformation in agrifood systems, aiming to translate research into “actionable frameworks that support system transformation.”