By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor
FEDERAL government, in a renewed effort to utilize the army of unemployed youths for nation building, has engaged a non-governmental outfit, Tech4Dev, known for driving technology for social change and development initiatives, in a partnership that will hand over 360 Nigerian youths, different skilled expertise every year.
The synergy is expected to create access to decent work, entrepreneurship opportunities and platforms for Africans through digital skills empowerment and advocacy,.
The partnership is routed through the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development. The mandate is to ensure that at least up to 36,000 young Nigerians are upgraded in digital and technology skills over the next one year.
The method is through the Emerging Markets Model Initiative, EMMI powered by Microsoft Philanthropies.
The EMMI is a multi-year private-public-nonprofit partnership geared towards building capacity for key government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, MDAs. The capacity will help such establishments build sustainable, scalable reskilling and employment services in tune with the local labor markets.
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The partnership initiative between federal government and Tech4Dev focuses on providing access to digital skills training, from digital literacy to advance training in Artificial Intelligence, AI for young persons living in underserved communities in Nigeria. The initiative will also work with government agencies to provide access to good job placement, entrepreneurship, and freelancing.
The partnership has a deliberate but strong inclusive strategy for women and ethnic groups to migrate to the digital economy.
Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, expressed delight at the face-lift the partnership will give the administration’s youth empowerment objectives.
He said: “This is a welcome idea as it aligns with this administration’s youth empowerment objectives and in particular, it aligns with the Ministry’s Digital Skill Acquisition, Employability, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership initiative, DEEL, which is aimed at giving the Nigerian Youth an added advantage and a competitive edge in the global workforce,” he said.
Also, Executive Director of Tech4Dev, Diwura Oladepo, said, “As an organization, we are committed to creating access to decent work opportunities and platforms to help provide economic prosperity pathways for financial freedom and economic empowerment for youths across Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
“We are a proud proponent of the immense power of digital skills training as a tool to achieve this and improve livelihood. This partnership brings us one step closer to reducing the unemployment rate in Nigeria”.
In the past few years the rate of unemployment in Nigeria has continued to raise concerns, growing in geometric speed.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), unemployment rate jumped from 27.1 percent in Q2’2020 to 33.3 percent in Q4’2020 while unemployed persons jerked up from 21.8 million to 23.2 million within the same time.
Although, this could be attributed to the effects of Covid19 pandemic, if nothing is done to arrest it, Statistical. Com’s projection that it will hit well over 32.5 percent before end of year 2021, will come to pass.
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