The Ministry of Youth and Sports Development has sealed a partnership deal with the Technology for Social Change and Development (Tech4Dev.), a Microsoft initiative to train 36,000 young Nigerians in digital skills over the next year.

Nigerian Methodology Reports show that in the fourth quarter of 2020 alone, over 33 percent of the labor 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, the minister of youth and sports development, Mr. Sunday Dare, described technology as an enabler and additional skills required for graduates to be relevant in the country and globally.

“We are glad that you have decided to partner with the Ministry to train our Youth in digital skills. This is very important and key to 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,” Minister said.

The executive director of Tech4Dev, Mrs. Oladiwura Oladepo, on her part said the partnership is in line with their commitment to creating access to decent work and entrepreneurship opportunities for Africans through digital skills empowerment and advocacy, adding that  partnering with the Ministry is 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). The initiative, she said, aims to offer sustainable, scalable, reskilling, and employment services aligned to the local labor 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 centers 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 leveling the unemployment rate in Nigeria. We are committed to helping youths to be skilled and to contribute to the economic growth of the country with this, we are sure there will be economic growth,” she assured.”