How can education unlock Africa’s future? At the 2026 Yidan Prize Conference in Dakar, IIASA research will showcase new evidence on skills, human capital, and development pathways, including insights from the African Human Capital Data Sheet 2026.
The 2026 Yidan Prize Conference titled “Unleashing Africa’s potential: The role of education in a new era of development,” the first edition held in Africa, will bring together around 200 high-level participants from across sectors. It will emphasize multilingual foundational learning as a driver of inclusion and improved learning outcomes, highlight the importance of cross-sectoral partnerships linking education with health, climate, and the economy, and promote evidence-based approaches to transforming education systems. The event aligns with the African Union’s education agenda and showcases scalable innovations emerging from across the continent.
Wolfgang Lutz, 2024 Yidan Prize for Education Research Laureate, together with collaborators Nicola Branson and Cynthia Fonta from the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) at the University of Cape Town, will bring expertise on human capital, education, and long-term population dynamics from the Yidan Prize-supported project at IIASA to this event.
© IIASA
Presenting the African Human Capital Data Sheet 2026
A highlight will be the presentation of the African Human Capital Data Sheet 2026: Past trends, skills, and future pathways. Based on data from the Wittgenstein Centre Data Explorer, the data sheet provides:
- consistent cross-country indicators of education and skills,
- trends in human capital development across Africa, and
- forward-looking scenarios linking education to future development pathways.
IIASA has a long tradition of producing data sheets that provide consistent, policy-relevant insights on population and human capital trends. This new addition supports policymakers in identifying priority areas for investment in education systems and workforce development. It is the first major output of the project.
More information about the conference is available on the event website.
© IIASA
Human Capital for Sustainable Development:
A Focus on Africa and Coastal Regions
(supported by the Yidan Prize project funds)
In collaboration with international partners, this project strengthens global education data and analytical tools, with a particular focus on regions where data gaps remain significant. The project supports the development of harmonized education and skills indicators, advances demographic and human capital projections, and provides open-access data resources for policymakers and researchers.
Building on decades of IIASA research integrating education into demographic analysis, the project links educational attainment and skills with population dynamics to better understand long-term development pathways. It further strengthens education data, refines skills-adjusted measures, and enhances the evidence base for policies that invest in people as a driver of sustainable development. For more information, visit the project website.
Upcoming Events
Aussois, France
Forest and people: from skyview to local dynamics
Brussels, Belgium
GRANULAR and RUSTIK to Hold Joint Final Conference in Brussels
NOVA School of Business and Economics (Carcavelos Campus, in Lisbon - Portugal)
Circular Economy Modelling Workshop
Dakar, Senegal
Unleashing Africa’s potential: The role of education
Carcavelos – Portugal
World Congress of Environmental and Resource Economists (WCERE)
University College Dublin (UCD)
Special Issue in Futures and July iEMSs Workshop
Helsinki, Finland
The transformative power of education
Segovia,Spain
Climate Change and Insurance Workshop 2026 (CCI26)
Barcelona, Spain
OEMC Final Global Workshop 2026
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Training workshop: Demographic analysis with applications to aging, health, and education
Beijing, China
Overshoot Conference 2026
IIASA, Laxenburg, Austria