The real test of public-private partnerships in skills development

By Sharon Mosin

Kenya's ambition to become a globally competitive, industrialising economy rests on a simple but often overlooked reality; that economic transformation depends on skills.

Across Africa, including Kenya, employers continue to report difficulties finding workers with the competencies required in modern agriculture, manufacturing, construction, oil and gas, digital services, and green industries. At the same time, thousands of young people graduate every year without clear pathways into productive employment.

The challenge is not a lack of goodwill. Governments, development partners, training institutions, and businesses all recognise the importance of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). The real challenge is coordination.

Drawing on Swisscontact's long-running skills development and TVET programmes across Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe, a clear pattern emerges. Public-private coordination succeeds when it is embedded in systems and incentives, not when it is project-driven. The partnerships that endure are those that become part of how institutions operate, rather than temporary arrangements supported by donor funding.

Too often, skills partnerships begin with great enthusiasm and end when the project cycle closes. Businesses participate because allowances or facilitation funds are available. Training institutions engage because equipment has been provided. Government agencies support initiatives because external financing reduces immediate budget pressures. Once funding ends, participation weakens and many of the gains prove difficult to sustain.

The partnerships that survive look very different.

First, lasting collaboration begins with shared incentives. Employers commit to the partnership when they see a direct link between training and productivity. They are more willing to provide internships, apprenticeships, curriculum input, and industry expertise when graduates possess skills that meet real labour market demands. Evidence increasingly supports this.

In our recently launched Return on Training Investment (ROTI) Report, industry-led skills development initiatives such as PropelA, can generate business returns of up to 30 percent with the retention of talent (currently at 80 percent for PropelA) as key driver.

Equally, training institutions benefit when strong industry engagement improves graduate employment outcomes and enhances their reputation. Government benefits when skills systems contribute to economic growth, job creation, and social stability.

When all actors gain tangible value from collaboration, partnerships move from being externally funded activities to becoming part of core business. While commitment may start a partnership, it is value that sustains it.

Second, institutional mechanisms matter more than individual champions. Visionary leaders can initiate partnerships and create the required momentum, but institutions create permanence. Sustainable systems therefore require structures that outlive staff turnover. Sector skills committees, industry advisory boards, employer associations, and formal curriculum review processes create predictable spaces for dialogue between employers and educators. These mechanisms allow collaboration to continue regardless of who occupies specific offices.

Kenya’s growing TVET ecosystem presents an important opportunity in this regard. The challenge is not creating new forums, but ensuring existing structures have clear mandates, resources, and accountability to influence training quality and responsiveness.

Third, labour market information must drive decision-making. Across multiple countries, one common lesson stands out: Training programmes are most effective when they respond to actual economic demand rather than assumptions about demand. Public-private partnerships work best when employers actively contribute information about emerging occupations, technology shifts, and future workforce requirements.

As economies digitise and green transitions accelerate, skills requirements are changing faster than traditional education systems can adapt. Regular employer engagement is therefore no longer a desirable addition to TVET systems, but an operational necessity.

Fourth, financing arrangements determine sustainability. If partnerships depend entirely on donor resources, they often disappear once external support ends. More durable models involve cost-sharing mechanisms where government, industry, and institutions each contribute resources. Employers may invest through apprenticeship placements, equipment donations, mentorship, or training levies. Governments can provide policy leadership and regulatory frameworks. Training institutions can allocate resources toward industry engagement and quality improvement.

Shared investment creates shared ownership.

Another important lesson concerns trust. Progress is not built on political term at a time or on short project cycle(s). At the same time, effective public-private partnerships do not emerge automatically. They are built through repeated interactions. They require time, consistency, and demonstrated results.

Businesses are understandably skeptical when engagement processes consume significant time but deliver little influence. Likewise, educational institutions become discouraged when industry participation is sporadic. Successful partnerships are built through continuous engagement, transparency, and evidence that stakeholder contributions are shaping real decisions.

For Kenya, this lesson is particularly relevant as the country seeks to strengthen its competitiveness by positioning skills as a driver for enterprise development for key sectors identified under its economic transformation agenda. TVET and other institutions of learning cannot operate in isolation from industry, nor can employers expect education systems to produce job-ready graduates without meaningful participation in training processes.

The future of skills development, therefore, lies not in isolated projects but in functioning ecosystems. Governments set the enabling environment. Training institutions deliver learning. Businesses provide workplace exposure, innovation, and insights into evolving skill needs. Development partners can catalyse change, but they should aim to strengthen systems rather than substitute for them.

The most successful examples from across Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe demonstrate that sustainable skills development is ultimately less about funding and more about governance. It is about creating incentives, institutions, and relationships that make collaboration the norm rather than the exception.

As Kenya continues to invest in workforce development, the question should not be how many new partnerships can be launched. The more important question is how existing partnerships can be institutionalised so that they continue creating value long after individual projects conclude.

That is the difference between programmes that end and systems that endure. And it is the latter that will determine whether Kenya's skills agenda strengthens its competitiveness in the region and globally and delivers lasting economic transformation.

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Sharon Mosin is Country Director, Swisscontact Kenya ([email protected])