Sub-Saharan Africa leads in mobile learning on Coursera
Sub-Saharan Africa has been ranked number one in the share of learners using smartphones and tablets to access courses on the digital learning platform Coursera, according to the company’s 2024 Global Skills Report.
The report highlights that many learners in Sub-Saharan Africa are developing technical skills in coding and IT, as well as business skills such as auditing and risk management.
Researchers note that the majority of Africa’s internet traffic comes from smartphones. “Learners in Sub-Saharan Africa show a strong appetite for mobile learning, with 65% accessing courses on smartphones or tablets - the highest among all regions. They focus on developing business skills like risk management and supply chain systems, as well as technical skills like SQL and HTML/CSS. However, with only 36% of learners being women, despite comprising 46.1% of the region’s labour force, there’s a significant gender disparity in online learning,” the report notes.
Coursera CEO Jeff Maggioncalda emphasised the significance of digital transformation and AI in driving educational trends. “In 2023, a learner signed up for a GenAI course on Coursera every minute; by 2024, this rate had quadrupled. An astounding 1,060% year-over-year increase in global GenAI course enrollments highlights how learners are actively preparing for AI’s impact on their careers. Improved technical skill rankings in regions like Latin America and the Caribbean reinforce the global appetite for acquiring digital skills as a way to achieve greater economic mobility,” Maggioncalda wrote.
The report also highlighted significant growth in GenAI course enrollments in regions such as Asia Pacific (1,270% YoY) and Sub-Saharan Africa (1,500% YoY). Government initiatives in countries like India, Malaysia, and Thailand are setting the stage for AI training and adoption. Examples include India’s $1.2 billion investment in AI projects, Malaysia’s National AI Studies Centre, and Thailand’s AI infrastructure development program.
The Middle East and North Africa region showed a strong commitment to digital transformation and emerging technologies, with an 861% increase in GenAI course enrollments and a 17% rise in cybersecurity enrollments year-over-year.
In Egypt, specifically, learners are typically younger than the global average, with a median age of 29, and increasingly learn on mobile devices, with 64% accessing courses through smartphones or tablets.
