Vocational education and training (VET) has returned to the list of policy priorities for education in Africa after an absence of a quarter of a century, yet there has been no new research that overturns the existing orthodox position that such provision, whether during or after schooling, is inefficient and ineffective. This paper addresses this apparent contradiction. It revisits the existing arguments against African VET to consider whether they have continued salience. It suggests that what is needed is a new approach to thinking about VET in Africa that takes account of innovations in theory, policy and practice about VET in other regions and in the wider field of African development theory. It offers a discussion of three areas in which a new approach might develop: reviewing the international evidence on VET reform; reimagining the purpose of VET; and revisiting the head-hand division and its implications for vocationalism in schools. (Contains 4 footnotes.)