European Union (EU), alongside the European Business Chambers in Nigeria (Eurocham), are collaborating with Nigeria to train 100,000 youths for job placement.
The EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ms Samuela Isopi, who made this known at a stakeholders’ conference, themed ‘Youths, Education, Employment and Skills,’ hosted by Eurocham in Lagos, said Youth, Education, Employability and Skills (YEES!) are a top concern and priority for the body, internally and in its cooperation with partner countries.
Isopi, who is also the Honorary President of Eurocham Nigeria, described human capital as key to Nigeria’s development, adding that the EU, its member states and EU businesses recognise this in their engagements with the country.
She said the EU and Eurocham Nigeria are playing leading roles in the Nigeria Jubilee Fellowship Programme (NJFP), a collaboration between the Federal Government and key stakeholders to build a reservoir of innovative and employable skills by placing smart young graduates on paid on-year internship in companies across the country.
The programme targets 100,000 youths over five years, she said, adding that European businesses operating in Nigeria and the European Union Delegation to Nigeria are stepping up collaboration towards helping to address the skills gap in the employment sector and leveraging Nigeria’s huge population of young people to drive economic prosperity.
“Demography has indeed the potential to help transform Nigeria, but it also poses challenges in terms of demand for quality education, skill development and employment,” the Ambassador said, pointing out that with youths making up 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population, the EU has prioritised the youth across areas of its cooperation with the country.
Under the Team Europe Initiative “Investing in Young Businesses in Africa” (IYBA) launched in Nigeria last year, the EU is rolling out some regional and national projects aimed at enhancing job creation for the youth, enhance their employability and entrepreneurship.
She said the number of young Nigerians awarded scholarships under Erasmus+, the EU’s flagship programme for education, training and youth development, has quadrupled in the last four years, rising to over 200 in 2022, and making Nigeria the country with the second highest number of Erasmus+ scholarships worldwide.