PMI, ALA proffer project management skills to empower young Nigerians

THE AFRICAN CONTINENT is a growing economy overflowing with boundless opportunities and potential, which if fully maximised through youth empowerment and project management utilisation, will elevate the region into becoming a leading voice in the global economy, analysts assert.

A study by Project Management Institute (PMI), also found that the disparity between available talent and the growing demand for project management skills is partly due to Africa’s huge growth in business and not enough talent to fill it.

With this in view, the African Leadership Academy (ALA), an international pre-university located in South Africa, in partnership with the Project Management Institute (PMI), hosted a youth-oriented event in Lagos, aimed at offering Nigerian students the necessary guidance into entrepreneurship, project management, and solving issues within their communities and beyond.

During the event, the students were offered scenarios and exercises to explore hypothetical simulations of real-world experiences, giving them the opportunity to expand their thinking and tackle issues related to Nigeria.

The Academy also taught the over 100 young attendees how to implement solutions and tackle challenges in their communities to equip themselves with the knowledge needed to meet Nigeria’s core needs for active growth, using a problem-solving template tagged ‘‘BUILD’, representing, Believe, Understand, Invent, Listen, Deliver.”

The story of a former ALA member and well-known African hero, William Kamkwamba, also known as ‘The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind’, was also highlighted at the event as a key changemaker for his village in Malawi as he managed to solve famine and drought issues in his village at the age of 14, through building a windmill. The students were inspired by Kamkwambas’s story and encouraged to see themselves as both changemakers for Nigeria, and vessels of talent that had the opportunity and ability to propel the country towards realising its full economic potential.