Utiva Education

The Problem

Supply and demand

One of the challenges we deal with as a organisation is the critical problem of access to quality talent for employers. Many youth are not trained in soft skills, digital skills and employability even though employers are looking for this skills. Most education, is also focussed on formal work and is not very practical. This causes a big mismatch between the education that Nigerian youth receive and the expectations of employees, most employees prefer pre-trained or practically experienced staff, which hinders youth’s employment opportunities.

Youth un(der)employment

Youth unemployment and underemployment is a major problem in Nigeria. There is a big population of job seekers that grows everyday. More than half of the youth population in Nigeria is either unemployed or underemployed, which makes about 24,5 million (55,4% of the total workforce of youth). Compared to young men, young women experience higher rates of unemployment and underemployment (26,6% compared to 20,3%).

The tech sector is a promising sector to fight unemployment, which is why we want to close the gap between demand and supply in the labour market and therefore fight youth unemployment with our project.

The Solution

Our project FLiT, is an apprenticeship program that has already helped 500 young people transition into full-time jobs in the technology industry. The project aims to transition African women into tech.

During our programme, young women will be trained on Data Science, Cloud Computing, Software Development and Product Management while being paired with companies of different sizes to work as trainees.

The programme entails a one-year apprenticeship that allows young women (20-35) to learn soft-skills and technology skills while working. It is divided into three different stages:

• The Learning Lab phase: a four hour a day virtual training program.
• The Projectized Learning phase: a six month phase where supervisors engage apprentices as work coaches.
• The Work Immersion phase: a six month phase in which apprentices engage fully in projects and activities at work.

As an outcome of the program, 2000 apprentices will access technology jobs, acquire on-the-job experience and build work relationships which can transform into long-term career support. The goal is to onboard 2000 young, Nigerian women, ensuring 100% placement into aspirational jobs for women.

Additionality 

With the support of CFYE we will be able to move from 500 people to 2000 in two years, which will mean four times more reach than we otherwise would of have. With the CFYE funding, the delivery of the apprenticeship experience will also be faster and better. Quality training will be created, and more people will be engaged. It will also help us to digitalize the entire apprenticeship experience and to onboard 1000 students per year.

Without the support of CFYE, we would be delayed in the execution of our project.