New Telegraph

Sterling Bank, iCreate, others reversing unemployment in Nigeria

Unemployment among Nigerians with advanced education has persisted in its negative trajectory since the World Bank put the percentage at 13.69 percent in 2016 and 15.3 percent in 2019, respectively. Agusto & Co., a highly respected credit rating agency, also released a report in 2021 showing that Nigeria’s unemployment rate among Nigerians with advanced education had hit the 35 percent mark, more than double the figure two years earlier.

 

This grim state of affairs is especially worthy of note in light of the number of graduates that the country’s universities and polytechnics produce every year.
For its part, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) linked unemployment in the country “to the phenomenon of jobless growth, an increased number of school graduates with no matching job opportunities, a moratorium on employment in many public and private sector institutions, and continued job losses in the manufacturing and oil sectors.”

 

The ILO noted that “ recent economic growth in Nigeria has not resulted in a rapid reduction of poverty or the creation of sufficient decent jobs for the young and rapidly growing labor force.”

 

What’s more, the recent report of the Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan 2021-24 of the Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development, published in August 2021, noted that “As of 2020 (Q2), youth unemployment (15–34 years old) stood at 35 percent. A further 28 percent of young people in the labor force were considered underemployed (working 20–39 hours a week) and 37 percent were working full time (40 or more hours per week). “
The report also said that a realistic estimate of the impact of COVID-19 on Nigeria’s labor market is not yet available, but the pandemic is expected to have put additional strain on youth labor.
Determined to play a role in the reversal of the worrying trend, Sterling Bank Plc agreed to collaborate with iCreate Africa and other stakeholders in the labor industry to turn around the unemployment crisis in the country for the better.
iCreate is a social program targeted at encouraging economic and social growth through skill acquisition and digital literacy in young people.

 

As part of efforts to change the narrative, iCreate Africa, in partnership with Sterling Bank and other stakeholders, organized a skills festival to raise the profile and recognition of skilled professionals in Nigeria by rebranding and projecting the value of skills in the mainstream while preparing youths  for the skills of the future.

 

The 5th edition of the iCreate Skills Festival, which was held in Abuja recently, focused on providing skills and training for young artisans in the areas of welding, tiling and pop installations, plumbing, painting, and carpentry.

 

Speaking on the bank’s collaboration with iCreate, Divisional Head, Health and Education of Sterling Bank, Mr. Obinna Ukachukwu, said the bank is ready to partner with iCreate Africa to reduce unemployment in the country. “We are very excited to support iCreate because we share their vision and have consistently been a key sponsor of the festival over the years,” she said.

 

To halt youth restiveness and unemployment, Ukachukwu said youths in the country must embrace skill acquisition programs to be self-reliant and that “there is increased concern over the activities of foreign nationals who have taken over the jobs of local artisans in Nigeria.”

 

“We have sponsored the iCreate Skills Festival in the past and we will continue to support the CEO, Bright Jaja, because of our shared vision, which includes education, economic empowerment, and the digitization of solutions in the continent, “Ukachukwu said.

 

According to him, Sterling Bank is focused on innovation and technology, which explains why the bank is constantly leveraging technology to create platforms and systems to solve problems.

 

While stressing the need to give importance to skill development to end unemployment, he said, “In the long run, the right answer to unemployment is to create more jobs via encouraging artisans to work in decent conditions.”

 

He said iCreate is leveraging technology to solve artisanal gaps via readily available, skilled, and validated artisans to fill in the increasing demand in the construction sector.

He continued: “ Leveraging technology to solve a problem aligns with our goal as a bank. As such, we are supporting and partnering with them to actualize this. “

On the rising statistics of unemployed youths in the country, Ukachukwu lamented that there are a lot of unemployed youths amid huge potential yet to be harnessed in the skills sector needed in the labor market.
As one of the sponsors of the iCreate Skill Fest, he said the bank has introduced different packages so that artisans can access soft loans to purchase their work tools.
Also speaking, Head, Business Growth and Partnerships, Mr. David Adebayo, said that Sterling Bank, through its SterlingAlternative Finance proposition, will partner with iCreate to provide a payment system that will allow qualified workers to purchase tools and pay in installments.

 

According to him, the iCreate team has launched a platform known as skillers.ng to cater to vocational and technical workers and employers in areas including capacity building/training, job listing, and matching with employers, among others.

 

He urged interested artisans to register on skillers.ng and encouraged the artisans not to allow the opportunity to slip off their hands, adding that the bank will also expand its CafeOne community to Abuja and that this will be executed in partnership with iCreate.

 

He explained that Sterling Bank is supporting the platform by creating a payment scheme that allows artisans to buy work tools and pay in a way that would be convenient for them. She said, “Even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we went  live with a fully digital banking app called One Bank. With this digital solution, customers do not need to step into the banking hall to access loans.

 

“Via the OneBank App, customers can easily check their credit score, apply for loans of up to N5 million, and get credited once they qualify, all without stepping into the banking hall. Beyond making banking easier for our customers and making it easier for business owners to fund, we continue to engage with partners in the Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation (HEART) sectors to create better access and experience to empower consumers, “Adebayo said.

 

Also speaking, the Head of Project, GIZ, Tobias Wolfgarten, said, “We are collaborating with the government and private sector to fill the skills gap so that youths can build decent careers and jobs by acquiring vocational skills.

 

“There is a need for precision and accuracy to compete globally. So, via this platform, youths can be trained to perfect their skills and take up career paths in any field they love. “

 

On his part, the Chief Executive Officer of the iCreate Skill Festival, Mr. Bright Jaja, noted that the platform will help to boost the confidence of artisans in their chosen careers. He said artisans and skilled workers will update their digital skills and their workplace techniques via the platform.

 

He said, “This platform will bridge the gap between the government, industries, and institutions by responding to the needs of the labor market.”

“It will also create a sustainable future for the Technical and Vocational Educational Training (TVET) in Nigeria and promote a system of decent wages for artisans, especially in the construction industry.”

 

Also, he said, the platform aims to implement a technological system that will provide easy access to the non-academic segment of the labor market

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