Telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria has flagged off calls for entries to the fourth phase of its annual ICT and Business capacity building program for the development of youth enterprise across the country.
The company, in a bold move aimed at ensuring reduction in the number of unemployed youths in the country would be training youths in ICT and Business skills towards enhancing their employability and entrepreneurial abilities.
Working through its CSR vehicle, MTN Foundation, the company has commenced the call-for entries for the fourth phase of the ICT & Business Skills Training program. The fourth phase of the training program is targeting Youths within the ages of 18 – 35 years in Abia, Akwa Ibom and Kaduna States.
According to the statement released by the telecoms giant, it enjoined youths within the demography to register for the programme between October 2, 2020, and October 25, 2020. The free training programme will hold virtually and will run for two consecutive days.
In a bid to ensure a productive experience for all participants in the program, MTN has entered collaborations with Google, Oracle and Cisco serve as implementation partners for the training program.
The statement reads: “There’s no need to recount the statistics of unemployed youths in Nigeria. Some of your neighbours, friends and even family members are an increasing part of it”. What are you waiting for? Join other youths who have benefited from the programme since 2018 and your future self will thank you for it”.
The MTN Foundation ICT and Business Skills Training initiative aims at building the capacity of the youths (18 – 35 years) in ICT and Business Skills towards enhancing their employability and entrepreneurial abilities. The training program is implemented in partnership with some MTN Ecosystem partners including Oracle, Google, KPMG, IBM and Digital Bridge Institute.
The initiative which is in its fourth phase aligns with the MTNF’s Youth Empowerment cause which is meant to support the Government’s efforts at promoting sustainable socio-economic development in Nigeria. Till date, the program has recorded huge successes with a total of 1,933 young people so far having been trained across five states of the federation including Oyo, Kano, Imo, Nasarawa and Rivers State with the MTNF planning to extend this intervention to other states across the country.
The short-term impact assessment on the program revealed that some of the trained participants have gone on to set up their own businesses using the skills taught at the training. The MTN ICT and business capacity building Program is in alignment with the United Nations Sustainability and Development Goals (SDGs) which is targeted at No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Decent Work and Economic growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure as well as Reduced Inequalities.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.
The training programme is free and open to youths between the ages of 18 – 35 years old who are interested in leveraging on ICT. MTN Foundation was incorporated in 2004 to drive the various CSR initiatives of MTN Nigeria Communication PLC. It was commissioned in May 2005 with MTN Nigeria Communication PLC committing up to 1% of its Profit after Tax (PAT) as its main source of funding for projects.
MTN Foundation has invested over NGN 21 Billion in the 36 states of the federation and FCT, with over 900 projects across the country. It was founded on a vision to be a leader in Corporate Social Investment initiatives in Nigeria measured by the impact and sustainability of Its projects on host communities as well as high perception rating of MTN’s brand, and with a mission to improve the quality of life in the area of Health, Education and Economic Empowerment on a sustainable basis in such a way as to impact positively on the MTN brand.
