Ogun State Government has expressed readiness to partner with the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Giessen-Friedberg, on Dual Vocational Training (DVT), which would empower artisans to acquire appropriate skills to be more value-driven in their service delivery and assist unemployed youths to be gainfully employed.
Commissioner for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adebola Sofela, made this known when a delegation from the German agency with officials of the Ogun State Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA) and the Ogun State Cooperative Federation (OGSCOFED), paid him a courtesy visit in his office, at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Mr. Sofela said the collaboration would help address youth unemployment, stating that the Gateway State, as the industrial and education capital of Nigeria, had consistently produced the highest number of graduates, who were mostly unemployed.
The Commissioner said improving capacity of youths would empower artisans and youths with demand-driven skills in various sectors of the economy and stem the tide of illegal migration among youths.
He added that government was deliberate in developing the capacity of youths through vocational education, stressing that the present administration was working with development partners like the World Bank, to upgrade technical and vocational centres, to improve their competency.
The Commissioner explained that government was working on organising artisans, as well as other small business owners into groups or cooperatives, to help them access grants, highlighting the N1bn Ogun State Action Recovery and Economic Stimulus (OG-CARES) and the Presidential Conditional Grant and Presidential Palliative Loan, as some of the funding opportunities available for small businesses.
Earlier, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Giessen-Friedberg, Dr. Matthias Leder, said the Chamber focused on addressing illegal labour migration through a more effective and demand-driven dual vocational training, stating that the German/Nigerian delegation in Lagos, the OGUNCCIMMA and its counterpart, the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), had signified interest in the programme.
He disclosed that plans were underway to give corporate assistance to students to visit the Banking Academy of Montehower on a two-week training, while the Chamber would hold a Business to Business International Conference on June 13, 2024, with the aim of providing a platform for exchange of business ideas
