Zambia's ambitions to position itself as a technology hub in Africa could face a longer-term skills challenge, with a shortage of information and communication technology (ICT) academics threatening the country's ability to train the next generation of specialists.
This is according to Dr Clement Sinyangwe, president of the ICT Association of Zambia and head of ICT at Chalimbana University, who spoke to ITWeb Africa on the sidelines of the Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa Workforce Intelligence Conference in Johannesburg on Friday.
The skills shortage comes as Zambia pursues its ambition of building a US$60 billion economy by 2031, with ICT expected to play an important role in achieving that target.
Sinyangwe noted that the country has fewer than 15 qualified professors able to teach ICT and fewer than 50 qualified PhD holders in Lusaka.
The shortage is becoming increasingly concerning as the country expands its technology education offering, with nearly 20 universities now providing ICT programmes.
He said the shortage of qualified academic staff was an often-overlooked aspect of the country's technology development.
"I have noticed that we have all these people to train, but when it comes to PhD and master's professors, we only have a few people at that level. When it comes to IT, you will find that we have very few skilled people. I can count them. Maybe we have fewer than 15 qualified professors to teach. And we have fewer than 50 qualified doctors in my city to teach," he told ITWeb Africa.
Speaking about Zambia's technology landscape, Sinyangwe warned that the country risks reaching a point where it lacks sufficient academics to train students, particularly as experienced professors approach retirement.
“Right now, it looks normal because the few we have are struggling. But look, they are getting old. I consider myself one of the youngest doctors, but I have only been a doctor for three or four years now. We have these people who are almost exiting. When they go—say, you lose ten professors, you lose 20 doctors—who's going to take up the challenge? That's the biggest problem; we will start asking for foreign academia to come and help us.”
To address this gap, he called for closer collaboration between industry and universities, arguing that ICT professionals working in the corporate sector should be encouraged to pursue academic qualifications and contribute to teaching.
“It’s high time we just make sure that we encourage people not to just go into corporate.” Sinyangwe said. However, he highlighted that this may be a challenge as there is a general perception that the private sector offers better remuneration than academia.
He added: “The government also should come in and ensure that they create an attractive environment for them (corporate workers) so that they can be attracted to take academia as a career.”
Speaking about the overall technology talent pool in the country, Sinyangwe said only a few people go overseas to seek employment opportunities in the ICT sector, with many opting to open their own businesses, contributing to the growth of local start-ups.
“In ICT, we have seen a lot of local people setting up businesses in Zambia. We have seen a lot of local innovations coming up. That tells me that we are retaining the skills, even though the industry is moving faster than academia. We have seen students who are going to study, but they are coming back to Zambia. We are retaining them. The skill drain is very low when it comes to ICT. I think we are on a good trajectory,” Sinyangwe said.
In March 2026, ITWeb Africa reported that Zambia's Ministry of Technology and Science was restructuring its operations to support the country's digital transformation ambitions, including artificial intelligence, data protection and digital infrastructure development.
The government has identified technology as an important contributor to its broader economic growth objectives.
Share
