By John Okoh
GE, the world’s premier Digital Industrial Company has announced a partnership with the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, to empower Youth Corps members with valuable entrepreneurial skills.
Known as the Start & Improve Your Business (SIYB) training programme, the initiative is meant to improve on and increase the capacity of the youth in building Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) that can operate effectively and be sustainable in the long-term, particularly in the face of dwindling job opportunities in the formal sector.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the General Kazaure, Director General of the NYSC in Abuja on Monday, Managing Director of GE Gas Power Systems in Nigeria, Mohammed Mijindadi, explained that the initiative was one of the many ways GE is supporting skills development in Nigeria.
“We are committed to the sustainable development of Africa and Nigeria in particular, and as such we invest in skills development initiatives that empower people with valuable skills, equip communities with new tools and technology and elevate ideas that are helping to solve Africa’s challenges.”
“The initiative is a practical business management-training programme with a focus on starting and improving small businesses.”, he said.
Roti Balogun, Chief Talent and Skills Development Leader for GE Africa and Corporate Champion for the Nigerian Economic Summit Group Human Capital Development commission, added “We are pleased to lead a private sector response to some of our commitments from the recently concluded NES23 summit on skills, competencies and capacity building with a focused strategy on faculty development in Nigeria. We remain committed to entrepreneurial leadership development across the continent with programs such as the SIYB.”
Responding, Kazaure commended the partnership with GE, stating that the SIYB programme is aligned and complimentary to the NYSC’s efforts in setting up skill acquisition centre in the country’s six geo-political zones.
