The African executives of Google, in a meeting at Abuja on Tuesday, unveiled its plan to empower Nigerian women and youth with digital skills and help the government to create one million digital jobs. The initiative also promises to give the government a grant of 1.2 million to aid the process.
During the meeting, Kashim Shettima, the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, announced that Nigeria intends to generate digital employment opportunities for its large youth population. Shettima further mentioned that Google’s initiative aligns with the government’s objective of enhancing youth involvement in the digital economy.The government is in collaboration with the local banks on this project. He added.
Olumide Balogun, Google Director for West Africa uttered that the company will allocate funds and offer digital skills training to women and young people in Nigeria. This is to foster growth of startups and generate jobs. Additionally, the philanthropic division of Google, in collaboration with Data Science Nigeria and the Creative Industry Initiative for Africa will facilitate the implementation of the program.
