Projects

Short Description:

Overall goal

The project supports the creation of sustainable and decent livelihoods for Nigerian youth and reduces some of the root causes of irregular migration. The promotion of gender equality and reintegration of returnees are horizontal objectives of the project.

Expected results

1. The project will set up the first of its kind dual vocational training centre in Nigeria – the Centre of Practical Skills – in the European Business Park in Enugu in close cooperation with investing European SMEs and the Godfrey Okoye University. The initial training capacity of the centre will be up to 120 trainees per year.

2. 100 Nigerian unemployed or underemployed youth with experience in the construction sector will start their training and certification in 5 technical job profiles that are in high demand by European investors.

3. Professional certificate-training curricula for the duration of up to 12-month training will be developed and the set-up for the training process completed (i.e. definition of the necessary equipment, facilities, and other requirements, hiring of staff, procurement of the necessary equipment, contracting). 13 Nigerian teachers will be engaged and capacitated, going through a preparatory train-the-trainers programme in cooperation with the partner companies to ensure effective and successful certificate training.

4. 100 trainees will be selected and on-boarded for the training that will be rolled out.

5. A draft concept for a legal (circular) migration project will be developed based on the established partnership with the European investors.

Target group / Beneficiaries

1) Nigerian professional youth/returnees seeking training and employment;

2) the Nigerian local and federal Government;

3) European and Nigerian private sector;

4) Nigerian universities and training institutes, in particular the Godfrey Okoye University, but also others interested in developing a vocational training programme based on a public-private partnership model.

Activities

1. Set-up of the training centre and the training process in partnership with European SMEs, investing in the European Business Park in Enugu in the framework of the “Eco-Social Market Economy in Enugu, Nigerian (ESME)” initiative. It will include validation of the operational plans and needs, setting up the training facilities, including the procurement of the equipment, development of curricula, identification and contracting of European and Nigerian teachers, and completing the train-the-trainer programme for the Nigerian teachers. The necessary referral and partnerships will be further advanced at this stage.

2. Roll-out of the training process, the kick-off of the certificate training for the first group of 100 trainees in cooperation with the private sector partners. At first, the activity will focus on the identification and selection of the trainees, including returnees and young women, in partnership with the private sector.

It is intended that most of the trainees will be employed by the company where they would undergo the training, or referred to ESME’s Start-Up Centre to received support to become self-employed (in particular, through guidance and micro-financing, based on already established cooperation with the Umuchinemere Procredit Micro Finance Bank Ltd (UPMFB)).

3. Development of a legal (circular) migration concept with reference to the implemented public-private initiative.Circular migrants from Nigeria upon return can act as further multipliers for know—how generation, skills development and job creation.

4. Coordination and Management - as a cross-cutting management work package.

Context

Due to structural reasons, job markets in Europe lack certain types of technical professionals. Legal/circular migration is one way to alleviate this problem. Increasing legal migration cooperation with selected countries, including Nigeria, is also a major priority at the European Union level. The issue is to ensure appropriate training, qualification, experience and mobility of legal migrants. If this is provided, it can be a win-win situation for the country of origin (Nigeria) and the destination (European partner countries). The project will build directly on the outcomes of the previous project “Technical Vocational Education Training and Youth Employment in Nigeria” (the Preparatory Phase), financed by GIZ and implemented by ICMPD, and it will be implemented in association with the Eco-Social Market Economy initiative (ESME), in parallel with the European Business park component, hosting European SMEs, and the Start-up Centre component, to support the development of Nigerian MSMEs. The Preparatory Phase allowed to further develop the model of the Centre of Practical Skills that would operate in partnership with Godfrey Okoye University and European private sectors in Enugu. It resulted in mobilising of and securing commitments by the partners, completion of a market research, the development of a funding model for sustainability, a tentative financial plan, a risk assessment, and a report on standard operating procedures.