…Says sustainable livelihoods, jobs must follow training

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA— Skills training alone will not stop young Africans from risking irregular migration unless it leads to decent jobs and viable livelihoods, warns Dr. Chibuzor Onyema, founder of the Blacks Ancestral Native Communities (BANC) Foundation.

Onyema, an expert and advocate for regular migration pathways and convener of the Anti-Irregular Migration Summit, made the remarks while explaining the rationale behind Africa Global Employability and Mobility Solutions (AfriGEMS), a human-capital development and migration-mitigation initiative developed by the BANC Foundation and implemented through the Pathways Institute for Mobility Alternatives (PIMA).

He said the initiative was designed to bolster the African and European Unions’ efforts to curb irregular migration by tackling the economic conditions that push young people to seek opportunities abroad. He argued that even when young people acquire skills, a lack of decent jobs or sustainable incomes can still make migration appear to be their only viable option.

He said AfriGEMS equips young Africans with globally relevant industrial, technical, vocational, digital and green skills through practical training and apprenticeships that lead to certification, employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

Onyema said the model was designed not merely to award certificates, but to provide a practical pathway for participants to build competencies that lead to jobs, entrepreneurship, and sustainable livelihoods.

According to him: “A distinguishing feature of AfriGEMS is its deliberate connection between skills development, employability and responsible human mobility.”

He explained that participants would be prepared not merely to obtain certificates but to acquire demonstrable competencies linked to apprenticeships, local employment, self-employment, enterprise creation and other income-generating opportunities.

He added that where legitimate opportunities exist, the model would also provide a pathway to ethical and regular cross-border employment.

Onyema said the intended progression was from skills acquisition to occupational competence, apprenticeship or enterprise, employment and sustainable livelihood, and ultimately regular mobility opportunities for those who choose to migrate.

The BANC founder said this approach was important because discouraging young people from leaving without addressing the economic conditions pushing them to migrate would not provide a sustainable solution.

He said AfriGEMS therefore seeks to create “credible economic alternatives” at home while also recognising that migration itself was not necessarily the problem.

Rather, he said, the concern was migration undertaken through unsafe and irregular channels, often exposing young people to trafficking, exploitation and other abuses.

Onyema said the model would equip participants with technical, vocational, digital and green skills that could be applied both within their countries and in legitimate international labour markets.

He said the initiative was consequently intended to link employability with safe, orderly and regular labour mobility rather than simply attempting to prevent migration.

The BANC founder further said the success of such an intervention would depend on partnerships among governments, employers, training institutions, development partners, international organisations and licensed employment agencies.

He called on the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, relevant government agencies including TETFUND and the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), universities and polytechnics, employers, and also International Labour Organisation (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ), International Centre for Migration Policy Development (ICMPD), for a partnership on effective pathways to curb irregular migration and associated risks.

According to him, training should respond to verified labour-market demand, while employers should provide apprenticeships and jobs and governments should facilitate the institutional framework required to connect skills to decent work.

He said development partners and international organisations could support standards, certification and safeguards necessary to protect young people along the employment and mobility chain.

The BANC initiative builds on the foundation’s earlier advocacy for addressing the root causes of irregular migration through skills development, economic opportunity and safer migration pathways.