PACTE: Opportunity-driven Skills & VET for Solar Energy in Côte d’Ivoire Archives

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The PACTE project (Programme d’Action pour les Compétences en Transition Énergétique) is a two-year programme aimed at strengthening Côte d’Ivoire’s technical and vocational education system to meet the growing skills needs generated by the country’s renewable-energy transition. Implemented under the Team Europe Initiative “Opportunity-driven VET” (TEI OP VET) the project ensures that vocational training in the country’s solar energy sector responds directly to real employment prospects through Global Gateway initiative investments.

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The PACTE project (Programme d’Action pour les Compétences en Transition Énergétique) is a two-year programme aimed at strengthening Côte d’Ivoire’s technical and vocational education system to meet the growing skills needs generated by the country’s renewable-energy transition. Implemented under the Team Europe Initiative “Opportunity-driven VET” (TEI OP VET) the project ensures that vocational training in the country’s solar energy sector responds directly to real employment prospects through Global Gateway initiative investments.

The main objectives of the project are the following:

Strengthen skills of technicians and VET trainers in solar photovoltaic (PV) and energy efficiency to align with labour-market needs.
Foster cooperation between training centres, government institutions, and the private sector to co-develop relevant curricula.
Create structured pathways to employment, including work-based learning and internships that link training directly to real job opportunities.
Support a just and inclusive energy transition by ensuring that the benefits of Côte d’Ivoire’s green economy are broadly accessible, especially for women and rural youth.

The Context: A growing demand for green skills

Côte d’Ivoire is accelerating its renewable-energy transition, driven by major national and international investments in solar power generation, off-grid electrification, and new regulations on energy efficiency. Large-scale solar projects under the EU Global Gateway and national energy strategies are creating significant opportunities in installation, operations, maintenance, and energy auditing. These developments are rapidly increasing the demand for technicians equipped with up-to-date skills in solar photovoltaic systems, energy-efficiency measures, and transversal competences needed in modern green workplaces.

As demand for renewable-energy skills grows, Côte d’Ivoire’s training ecosystem is entering an important moment of transformation. Current studies indicate that between 8,000 and 13,000 skilled professionals will be needed in the solar and biomass sectors by 2030, creating significant opportunities for young people across the country. To fully harness this potential, further alignment between training offers and industry requirements will be essential. Many TVET programmes are already evolving, yet continued collaboration between training centres and companies can help ensure that curricula, practical training, and emerging labour-market needs move in step with one another. Strengthening the transition from training to employment, particularly for young women and rural youth who often face additional barriers, will play a key role in enabling Côte d’Ivoire to build a workforce that is well positioned to contribute to its renewable-energy ambitions and benefit from the new opportunities being created.

The Approach

PACTE is grounded in an opportunity-driven TVET approach, which begins with identifying concrete job prospects emerging from Côte d’Ivoire’s expanding solar-energy sector and shaping training around these real market needs. By using employment opportunities as the starting point, the project ensures that updated curricula in solar PV and energy efficiency are directly aligned with the skills companies require and the job openings that are being created. Together with private-sector partners, PACTE develops work-based learning and internship pathways that help young people move smoothly from training into employment, supported by both technical and transversal skills. This approach places employability at the centre of VET reform and strengthens collaboration between training centres, institutions and companies. In doing so, PACTE supports a more inclusive and equitable energy transition by helping young people from diverse backgrounds access the new opportunities emerging in Côte d’Ivoire’s green economy.

Together, these partners combine expertise in TVET reform, renewable-energy technologies, institutional capacity building, and public–private collaboration to perform the following activities:

Conduct an opportunity-driven context analysis of Côte d’Ivoire’s TVET and renewable-energy landscape, including interviews with policymakers, companies, VET trainers, directors, civil society and youth, to identify real employment opportunities and required skills.
Co-design and validate updated curricula in solar energy and energy efficiency with VET institutions and private-sector partners, ensuring alignment with national certification standards and industry needs.
Provide targeted training-of-trainers in selected VET centres to ensure high-quality and sustainable delivery of the new curricula.
Develop and pilot structured work-based learning pathways, including internships and industry placements linked to major solar investments, improving young people’s transition from school to work.
Advance gender-responsive TVET through in-depth analysis, a community of practice, and a practical toolkit to address barriers faced by young women and support their participation in green technical fields.
Facilitate regional and international exchanges for trainers, directors and decision-makers to learn from proven approaches in renewable-energy training and work-based learning.
Support trained students into employment, connecting upgraded curricula, skilled trainers and engaged companies to the job opportunities identified at the start of the project.

Expected Impact

A robust skills roadmap for the renewable energy sector in Côte d’Ivoire.
Two new curricula in solar and energy efficiency piloted and validated.
100+ trainers and officials (including directors) upskilled in renewable energy and transversal skills.
A nationwide reach: at least 5 VET schools across Côte d’Ivoire, the IPNETP train-the-trainers center, ministry curriculum developers, and partner companies engaged in work-based learning.
International mobility programs delivering actionable knowledge transfer.
+400 students trained, with >250 students securing decent employment prospects.
Public–private collaboration frameworks institutionalized (task forces, MoUs, WBL pilots).
Increased youth employability and women’s participation in renewable energy.
Enhanced regional and pan-African cooperation through OP-TVET, GIZ and SHINE project networks

Expected Outcomes

By the end of 2027, PACTE will have contributed to:

Strengthened the skills of technicians with a focus on solar energy, energy efficiency, hands-on transversal skills through updated curricula, training of trainers and networking
Promoted public-private collaboration between actors of education and labour market actors & facilitated regional and international knowledge sharing and practical exposure to best practices from the work-based learning.
Raised awareness and advocated for RE careers, focusing on networking opportunities for youth, energy transition, climate change, decent green job opportunities and the role of women in the sector.

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