Ministry of youth and sports partners Tech4Dev, Microsoft to train 36,000 youth

The Ministry of Youth and Sports has gone into partnership with the Technology for Social Change and Development, a Microsoft initiative to train 36,000 young Nigerians in digital skills over the next one  year.

 Nigerian Methodology Reports shows that in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone, over 33 per cent of the labour force became unemployed, primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a trend this initiative  is expected  to reverse.

Speaking  at the signing of MOU in Abuja on Tuesday,  Minister  of Youth and sports Development Mr Sunday Dare said” We are glad that you have decided to partner with the Ministry  to train our Youth in Digital  Skills. This is very important  and keys into our core agenda to upscale  our Youth and make them employable , entrepreneurs through  Digital  skill. We have a massive Youth population,  so we need to scale up the  number of our youth that get trained. Technology  is an enabler, graduates need additional  skills to be relevant in the country and globally”

 In her response,  Executive  Director  Tech4Dev Mrs Oladiwura Oladepo  said ” In alignment with our  commitment to creating access to decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities and platforms for Africans through digital skills empowerment and advocacy, we are partnering  with the Ministry of Youth and Sports to upskill 36,000 young Nigerians in digital skills over the next one year through the Emerging Markets Model Initiative (EMMI)” .

 She disclosed  that The EMMI is a multi-year, multi-stakeholder, private-public, non-profit partnership designed by Microsoft to build the capacity of key government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs). This Initiative aims to offer sustainable, scalable, reskilling and employment services aligned to the local labour markets through providing access to digital skills training (from digital literacy to advanced training for young people in Nigeria between the ages of 16-35 years.

 She affirmed that “The Initiative targets 36,000 youth over one year, using a virtual and physical learning approach, in various training centres across Nigeria. This would be achieved through multi-year collaboration with four strategic Federal Government Ministries and 12 state governments.

 “As an Organisation committed to creating access to decent work opportunities and platforms to help provide economic empowerment for youths across Nigeria and Africa as a whole, I remain a proud proponent of the power of digital skills training as a tool to achieve this. This partnership brings us one step closer to levelling the unemployment rate in Nigeria. We are committed to help youths to be skilled and to  contribute  to the economic growth of the country With this, we are sure there would be economic growth, she assured.”