Will Be Discussing Nature of Work in European Commission, Brussels Next Month

I will be speaking in the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre this June. We will discuss the changing nature of work. The organizers have drawn experts from around the world. I will attend as the Founder of the non-profit African Institution of Technology, a 501(c)3 U.S. charity. In the panel will include a professor from University of Oxford and experts from Chile, U.S. and more.

Session 3: The changing nature of work

By 2030, tech-savvy, hyper-connected millennials will represent 75% of the workforce, and older generations will work longer. Advancements in technology and automation are increasingly substituting both routine and cognitive tasks, while increasing the need for new skills and creating unprecedented opportunities.

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Michael Schönstein, Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, Germany

Hector Casanueva, Chilean Council for Foresight and Strategy, Chile

Ndubuisi Ekekwe, African Institution of Technology, Nigeria

As the world examines the potential labour disruptions from new technologies, Africa will be affected but in a totally different way. Sure, ATM machines and web technologies will result to labour dislocations but the industries that really employ most Africans [for example agriculture which employs more than 65% of working population] may not see radical changes in decades unless fundamental redesigns take place on critical infrastructures.

We cannot leapfrog poor road networks with drones that deliver blood. We cannot fix electricity with apps. And certainly for all the farming apps, farmers still use hoes and cutlasses. Our labour model must be different from what they write on FT, NY Times, and The Economist because our situations are unique.

I expect this to be a great conversation in Brussels this June.

Register for Tekedia Mini-MBA (Feb 10 - May 3, 2025), and join Prof Ndubuisi Ekekwe and our global faculty; click here.