Telecommunications company Airtel Nigeria said it has partnered with UNICEF to empower young Nigerians through the new Generation Unlimited (GenU) initiative.
Airtel said in a statement on Tuesday that the multi-sector partnership aims to empower 20 million young Nigerians by 2030 in education, skills training, employment and entrepreneurship while leveraging access to digital platforms.
The Nigerian News Agency (NAN) reports that GenU aims to urgently support the expansion of education, training and employment opportunities for young people aged 10 to 24 on an unprecedented scale.
The Collaboration is a multi-sectoral global partnership that was initially launched in September 2018, working with over 200 partners.
Segun Ogunsanya, Chairman and CEO of Airtel Nigeria, said the initiative aligns with the telecom company’s philosophy of connecting, empowering and helping young Nigerians become more productive to solve some of the pressing issues facing them. affect the country.
“At Airtel, we believe that leveraging technology, digital platforms, mobile broadband and innovation can make a huge difference in creating both access and opportunities for young people, even among those who live in the most remote and hard-to-reach places in the country, ”he said. noted.
Ogunsanya pledged Airtel will support the GenU initiative by providing connectivity and internet access for every school and learning by zero-rating the cost of data.
He said the phone company would also offer internship opportunities to participants as well as rewards to some of the beneficiaries upon completion of the training.
“In the long term, Airtel will fully support GenU through a partnership to develop an investment case for school connectivity by leveraging our technical expertise.
“We are convinced that through this partnership, we will go a long way to improve the skills of millions of young Nigerians across the country, which is one of the cardinal goals of the government,” Ogunsanya said.
In addition, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President, commended Airtel, UNICEF and other stakeholders for supporting the GenU initiative with a clear deliverable of providing education, training and development opportunities. entrepreneurship to 20 million Nigerians in 10 years.
GenU Managing Director Mr. Kevin Frey also praised Airtel for its promise to provide connectivity, access, internship opportunities and rewards to grantees, noting that GenU’s success in Nigeria was a success for the Africa and the world.
Frey said that during the pilot phase of the program, Airtel will focus on providing zero-rated data to support 200 schools in Lagos and Kano states.
NAN reports that GenU has reached over 100 million young people around the world through innovations and programs in more than 40 countries on six continents. (NAN)
