Microsoft said it believes that technology plays crucial roles in youth employment, especially in Africa. Oluyomi Alarape, business group director, Cloud & Enterprise, Microsoft Nigeria, said this while speaking in Lagos at a Career and Employment Fair that was co-organized by Microsoft and other stakeholders.

Alarape said in line with the ability of technology to boost youth employment, Microsoft and its partners are investing in training – especially in the development of a curriculum.

He said: “We have engaged in this strategic partnership for obvious reasons – collaboration in providing a connective platform for job seekers to acquire the required skill sets that organisations are looking for and positioning them well for prospective job opportunities.”

“We found that technology is pivotal to youth employment and so we have invested in training the youth and to ensure that we have a curriculum that will make sure the youths are relevant after school.  That is part of what we have done to accelerate youth employment.  We also have the youth employability portal to ensure that youth have requisite skills to get jobs and to be relevant.”

Participants at the fairgot top priority listing on Nigeria’s largest job search website Jobberman and Debo Ajayi, CEO, Endive Projects said the Fair was a way of giving back to the society.

He said: “Though unemployment is rampant, there are jobs out there but people do not know how to get them.  What we are doing is to engage with job seekers and teach them what to do and empower them with information that will enable them get great opportunities to be gainfully employed and productive.”

Ayo Daniels, founder and COO of The Lighthouse emphasized the importance of youth development in Nigeria and the mandate of The Lighthouse through her activities to continually raise leaders who can create employment in different sectors of the economy.

“We are called to resolve societal issues and we will not relent in creating opportunities for the youths of Nigeria through our various empowerment initiatives,” he asserted.

“We are partners with Microsoft and our role is to match candidates with their dream jobs. What we do is to let people know that there are opportunities and they need to be qualified enough to get these roles. It is more than applying for the jobs, you need to ensure that the skills and experiences you have match the criteria the recruiter is looking for,” said David Jaiyeola, Partnership Coordinator, Jobberman.

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