This article reports on an international policy research study funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Government's Department for International Development (DfID), entitled Globalisation and Skills for Development in Tanzania and Rwanda: implications for education and training policy and practice. The research is a contribution to a broader ‘Skills for Development Initiative’ launched by the UK Secretary of State for International Development (Short, 1999). The study was a collaborative effort between the Universities of Bristol, Bath, Dar es Salaam and the Kigali Institute of Education. The findings and the analysis generated by this research are rich and complex.