Ministry of Youth and Sports has partnered with the Technology for Social Change and Development a Microsoft initiative to train 36,000 young Nigerians in digital skills over the next year.
The unemployment rate in Nigeria has not decreased significantly as expected. Nigerian Methodology Reports show 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.
In alignment with her commitment to creating access to decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities and platforms for Africans through digital skills empowerment and advocacy, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has partnered with Microsoft and Technology for Social Change and Development initiative (Tech4Dev) to upskill 36,000 young Nigerians in digital skills over the next one year through the Emerging Markets Model Initiative (EMMI).
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).
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.
The Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development Mr Sunday Dare stated that When the VP made the announcement it was an announcement that gladdened his heart because it keys into the DEEL initiative that have been on for 18 months;
“It is important to us and it is something that keys into the mandate of the ministry to bridge the digital gap and upscale our youth. It keys into what has been going on for the last 18 months the DEEL initiative”
The Co-Founder and Executive Director of Tech4Dev, Diwura Oladepo, spoke on the partnership with Microsoft and the Ministry of Youth and Sports. She said, “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.”
The funding partners of this project, Microsoft, expressed their commitment towards ensuring access to decent work. “
