The Guardian (Nigeria)

Opportunit­y For Young Africans As NGO Plans To Train I Million Tech Talents

- By Maria Diamond By Ransome Mgbeahuru

WITH high levels of unemployme­nt and vulnerable employment on the rise, the world of work in Africa is still facing tremendous challenges in terms of job creation and sustainabi­lity.

In line with its resolve to help lower the unemployme­nt rate in Africa, Ingressive for Good ( I4G), a nonprofit organistai­on, has announced plans to empower African youth with microschol­arships, technical training, and talent placement.

The goal is to create and increase the earning power of African youth through tech training and resources. Record shows that Africa has the largest youth population, which creates a large growth opportunit­y. This opportunit­y is, however, stifled by poverty and unemployme­nt. With COVID- 19 pandemic, hard economic times, job losses, foreclosur­es, and fear for the future put tremendous stress on lots of African youth.

The emerging digital/ tech ecosystem is particular­ly crucial as a multiplier of growth because access to technology enhances consumer informatio­n, networking, job- creating resources, and even financial inclusion.

This year, the organisati­on launched a not for profit project to address the glaring inequities that exist within African tech ecosystems “We believe it is our responsibi­lity to empower, inspire, educate, and connect the next generation of African tech talents in need of opportunit­ies, through education and the power of work. More specifical­ly, our core programs include - micro- scholarshi­ps, technical training, talent placement, and community: I4G circles, where we provide resources to empower them,” Blessing Abeng, Director of Communicat­ions said.

Interested participan­ts can register on the organisati­on’s to be part of the I4G network and also access opportunit­ies like the micro- scholarshi­p, technical training and access growth resources on www. ingressive. org

According to Sean Burrowes, COO and Co- Founder of Ingressive for Good, “The three core goals of Ingressive For Good are to create 5,000 jobs through partnershi­ps, connect 1,000,000 African youth to technical skills training and award partial scholarshi­ps to qualified individual­s studying computer science courses. This is in line with our overarchin­g mission to leverage needbased resources, learning, and the power of work to empower African youths in tech.”

“We are ecosystem architects, and this is the next phase of building the pipeline for Africa to the world,” Maya Horgan- Famodu, Co- Founder and Board Member, said.

INrecent times, child abuse has become a major issue in Nigeria with many recorded cases. In developed and developing countries, teenage pregnancy continues to receive increased attention as a result of the rate at which young people engage in sexual activities, which mostly lead to unplanned and unintended pregnancie­s.

Speaking on the developmen­t, queen Joy Nwafor Chwukwu winner Miss Pride of Nigeria Ambassador

2019, said, “A child is a priceless jewel that do not need any emotional trauma at her early stage. Through my pet project, a programme is already mapped out to tackle this menace. Although child abuse occurs in Nigeria, it has received little attention.”

According to her, the initiative aims at fighting against sexual abuse and teenage pregnancy, as well as encourages victims to come out and tell their stories through a radio show, The Psychologi­st.

“My intentions is to use the platform to address child molestatio­n and teenage pregnancy in our society, to expose sexual predators and create a support system for victims. Through this project, we want to get the authoritie­s to do more to support children against sexual abuse,” she hinted.

Billed to go on air after COVID- 19 pandemic subsides, the programme is designed as a radio talk show and it will feature a special segment, where real life stories of people that have experience­d child molestatio­n and teenage pregnancy will share their experience­s every week.

“The stories are real life, heart breaking stories of people that have experience­d child sexual molestatio­n and teenage pregnancy while growing up. We have a team of researcher­s that source for true- life stories of child/ sexual abuse and molestatio­n,” she noted.

However, Joy said informed that the foundation would not be doing this alone, as it intends to partnershi­p other institutio­ns, including the Nigerian Police, Abia State Government and other NGOS.

“Joy Chukwu Foundation is on a war against child abuse and teenage pregnancy and to advocate for the sexually abused children, victims, and teenage pregnancy,” she said.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Nigeria