As part of its contributions to reducing youth unemployment rate in the country, MTN Foundation has collaborated with Plan International and the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly to train some 100 youths in mobile phone repairs and maintenance skills.
The first batch of 50 young men and women selected from the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipality and it’s surrounding communities have graduated successfully and have each been presented with working tools and a kiosk to start work.
Dubbed ‘Youth Employment and Enterpreneurship Project (NYEEP)’ the objective of the training project is to provide beneficiaries with employable skills that would enhance their livelihood.
The 50 beneficiaries took courses in introduction to mobile phone technology; Basic customer service; front end repairs; and repair and rectification of faults of mobile phones. They were also educated on how to maintain a safe and secure work environment, among others.
At a ceremony to commission the project on Wednesday, January 20,2921, a Board Member of the MTN Foundation, Nabila Williams, noted that despite the good intentions of governments and the private sector, youth unemployment has remained a major source of concern in Ghana.
“According to the World Bank, Ghana is faced with 12% youth unemployment and more than 50% underemployment, both higher than the overall unemployment rates in Sub-Saharan African countries.
“Based on this, the MTN Ghana Foundation, committed Ghc445,000 to support the training of 100 young women and men in Nsawam and Suhum. The first 50 beneficiaries are passing out today with skills in mobile phone repairs,” she stated.
“As part of the project, we are providing start-up tools and kiosks. We hope that young people in Nsawam and its environs will take advantage of this opportunity to prepare themselves to take on the future. We are confident that this intervention will help reduce the youth unemployment as well as contribute towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal 8,” she added.
She was grateful to Plan International and the Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly for partnering the MTN Foundation in the successful implementation of the project while urging the beneficiaries to adopt good business practices and properly maintain the equipment.
Country IT Manager for Plan International, Maud Tsagli, on her side remarked that her outfit belives in empowering young people, especially ladies in the fulfillment of Goal 8 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 8) which requires that they are provided with decent jobs to enable them sustain themselves.
“It is based on this that we partnered the MTN Foundation to implement the NYEEP.
We believe the program was designed with young women in mind to enable them to also survive in a male dominated environment.
“Today you are being armed with a very important tool to make you move on in the terrain. Life won’t be smooth but be prepared for them. There may be dissapoitments and others but stay on cause,” she told the participants.
GhanaNewsOnline.com.gh has gathered that the format of the project has been intended as a trainer of trainers program and beneficiaries are required to train other people for the chain effect.
The Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) for Nsawam Adoagyiri, Isaac Kwadjo Buabeng, noted that the participants were chosen through a transparent process and they have comported themselves well throughout the training.
“These are the pioneers and we are hoping that they’ll take their work seriously and excell so that our sponsors can continue to buy into the program,” he stated.
24 year old Jibril Alhassan, a beneficiary of the training told Ghananewsonline.com.gh in an interview that though he has had a long standing interest in becoming a mobile phone technician, he has not had the opportunity of a formal training. He has therefore seen the project as a timely intervention in his life as it is going to help him raise income to support himself and his family.
“I can never be grateful enough for this opportunity. Thank you MTN, thank you Plan International. Now I can also call myself a trained mobile phone technician,” he stated.
By Jeorge Wilson Kingson || ghananewsonline.com.gh