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Tag: youth empowerment

  • MTN Foundation Trains Over 2,000 Young Nigerians in Digital, Business Skills

    MTN Foundation Trains Over 2,000 Young Nigerians in Digital, Business Skills

    he MTN Foundation has trained more than 2,000 young Nigerians in digital and business skills under its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Skills and Training Programme.

    Speaking on the initiative in a statement, the Executive Director of the MTN Foundation, Mrs Odunayo Sanya, said the programme was designed to equip young entrepreneurs with practical digital skills tailored to their business needs.

    She said small businesses remained the backbone of the Nigerian economy and that supporting young entrepreneurs with simple, affordable digital tools could significantly improve productivity and drive long-term growth.

    According to Sanya, the training, now in its seventh cohort, focuses on helping Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) adopt digital tools to enhance productivity and sustainability. She noted that SMEs account for over 90 per cent of businesses in Nigeria and employ a large proportion of the workforce, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    The foundation said the programme followed a call for applications in September 2025, which attracted more than 5,000 entries from Nigerians aged between 18 and 35 years.

    Sanya explained that successful applicants are currently participating in a five-week virtual training programme scheduled to end in February 2026. The training began with a general onboarding session across four business tracks and is focused on practical digital growth for small businesses.

    Participants were drawn from sectors including food services, fashion, retail, logistics, beauty and printing, she said, adding that the training emphasises the use of affordable digital tools suitable for small and early-stage enterprises.

    The programme also promotes gradual digital transformation, encouraging participants to digitise basic operations before scaling up over time.

    The sessions are facilitated by a Business Analyst and Digital Transformation Expert, Mr Babajide Jolaolu-Kehinde, who highlighted the benefits of automating repetitive tasks to save time, reduce errors and improve efficiency.

    He introduced participants to tools such as WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business for customer engagement, as well as MTN’s MoMo API for digital payments. Through case studies, he demonstrated how digital tools could help small businesses expand their customer base and increase sales.

    The foundation added that participants would continue to have access to learning materials and recorded sessions throughout the duration of the programme.

  • Abia Enacts Startup Law, Launches Electric Bus Project

    Abia Enacts Startup Law, Launches Electric Bus Project

    Even as states in Nigeria’s North grapple with existential security challenges, some southern states continue to push forward with strategic development initiatives.

    One such state is Abia, where Governor Alex Otti has assented to the Startup Bill passed by the House of Assembly, officially enacting it as the Abia State Startup Law, 2025.

    The Commissioner for Information, Mr. Okey Kanu, disclosed this on Monday while briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting held in Umuahia.

    Kanu said the law was designed to domesticate and implement the Nigerian Startup Act, 2022 within Abia State.

    According to him, the legislation provides a framework to promote innovation, support technology-enabled startups, nurture digital talent, and position Abia as a hub for technology and innovation.

    “The law applies to companies with major operations in Abia and startups duly recognised and labelled under the national Act,” he said.

    The commissioner also announced plans to roll out a state-owned electric bus mass transit system under the Abia Transport Transformation Project.

    He said the first batch of 20 electric buses arrived in November, while another 20 are expected early next year. About 100 buses will be deployed in the first phase of the project.

    Kanu explained that the 40-seater buses, which are custom-built for Abia, can travel up to 400 kilometres on a single charge.

    He added that the buses are equipped with modern safety and comfort features, including surveillance cameras, charging ports, disability access, emergency exits and fire extinguishers.

    According to him, the initiative will position Abia at the forefront of clean and environmentally friendly mass transit in Nigeria.

    On long-term planning, Kanu disclosed that the Abia 25-Year Development Plan would be unveiled on Tuesday at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia. He said the event would attract development partners, advisory council members, local government chairmen, traditional rulers and other stakeholders.

    In the health sector, the commissioner said the Abia Global Medical Mission commenced on Monday and would run until December 20, 2025, offering free advanced medical services across designated centres in the state.

    He also announced that 850 youths would graduate from the second cohort of the Abia Techrise ICT Training Programme on Saturday, bringing the total number of beneficiaries trained under the programme in 2025 to 1,399.

    Kanu further said the Ministry of Works was carrying out direct labour interventions on major roads ahead of the yuletide.

    He urged residents to remain vigilant during the festive season and report suspicious activities to security agencies, noting that security agencies have been placed on full alert to protect lives and property across the state.

  • NNPCL, Foundation Targets 200,000 Corps Members For Financial Literacy Training

    NNPCL, Foundation Targets 200,000 Corps Members For Financial Literacy Training

    In its bid to build the capacity of youth towards making them employers of labour, the NNPCL Foundation, in partnership with Kudimata Nigeria Limited, have trained the Batch C members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in basic financial literacy skills.

    Kudimata is a financial education outfit. 


    In a statement signed by Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd, Femi Soneye, on Friday in Abuja, the company said the training, which aligned with the objectives of Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED) scheme of NYSC had its maiden edition featuring Batch B stream in the past months. So far over 118,000 youth corps members have been trained in financial literacy, while about 70,000 are being trained across the 37 NYSC orientation camps in the country.

    Speaking during the training, the Managing Director, NNPC Foundation, Emmanuella Arukwe described financial literacy as not only the bedrock of all successes in the ever-competitive labour market, but a journey towards attaining self-actualization, thereby heralding the trajectory to sustainable prosperity of the nation.

    Arukwe, who implored the corps members to leverage on the knowledge garnered from the training to avert white collar job syndrome, added that the NNPC Foundation is committed to impacting the youth corps members to become employers of labour.

    “We are partnering with both NYSC and Kudimata to bring financial literacy to the corps members, as this will help them make better-informed decisions. We are very passionate about young people and NYSC is a veritable ground as it cuts across 20 to 30 years old youth, thus, making it the right demography,” she stated.

    According to her, “This programme cuts across the 36 states of the country including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). This is the first step towards a series of programmes that will culminate in instilling entrepreneurship in the Corps members. After this training, those who pass the examination by 70 percent will move to the next stage. The next stage will keep them better informed on how to run businesses to ensure success in their businesses. Thereafter, we will do a pitching where those who are properly trained will be selected and be given start-up kits to go ahead and be on their own,” the MD added.

    Addressing unemployment as the greatest problem of young graduates, she said, “We are aware of unemployment as a challenge plaguing young graduates and we recognize the need to empower the youths through capacity building of this magnitude for them to empower the whole nation. This training will help reduce unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria, thereby making the corps members employers of labour.”

    In her remarks, the FCT Coordinator, NYSC, Shokpeka Winifred expressed her profound gratitude to both NNPC Foundation and Kudimata Nigeria Ltd for their unwavering support to empower the corps members to enable them to become self-reliant individuals and wealth creators.

    Winifred described the training as a platform for young people to learn the best ways of managing their finances, while also grooming them to become good managers of resources.

    “Going forward, I’m confident that they will put what they have learnt to use by utilizing their funds well as they are now aware of how to earn, maintain and multiply their finances. We are striving to see them becoming business owners tomorrow through further mentorship,” the Coordinator concluded.

    One of the corps members at the NYSC orientation camp in Abuja, Prudence Enema said: “I’m thrilled that the NNPC Foundation took their time to train us on financial literacy, we are aware that financial literacy is very important, and we have learnt a lot on how to multiply our money in order not to suffer in the future.”

    Another corps member, Okeke Ugochukwu revealed that the training was worthwhile as the importance of saving and categorization of finances were taught effectively.