Mar 13, 2013 at 11:07am

Local Enterprises and Skills Development Programme (LESDEP) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to begin its operations in Niger.

The programme, which will be undertaken in collaboration with the Ministry of Training and Employment of Niger, seeks to provide training and skills development to Niger’s youth in order to reduce unemployment, develop the human resource capacity of the youth as well as women in Niger.

Under the terms of agreement, LESDEP would help in the deployment of trainers in Niger, provide 100 repair kits and mobile phones, 100 sewing machines as well as provide education materials and equipment for the phase one of the programme after which the second phase will begin.

Speaking at a ceremony in Accra, the Minister for Training and Employment in Niger, Nana N'gade Hadiza Noma Kaka, said the government of Niger was committed to fighting poverty and developing the youth to start up businesses of their own hence the collaboration with LESDEP.

According to her, her ministry had conducted feasibility studies to identify the key areas in which the technology transfer would take place as well as those who would benefit from the training.

She indicated that as part of measures to ensure that their efforts would not be futile, a monitoring and evaluation team would be in place to assess the progress of the programme.

A representative of LESDEP Ghana, Mr. Rohit Khattar said that the collaboration was an opportunity to replicate the good works of LESDEP and also to train the required manpower to deal with the issue of poverty.

“This collaboration is the beginning of greater things to come as more and more people are trained under this programme, the issue of youth unemployment is solved”, he added.

LESDEP is a private sector initiative which is implementing a public/private partnership entrepreneurial and skills development programme with the government of Ghana.

So far about 68,000 people have benefitted from various forms of LESDEP training in Ghana in hairdressing, food processing, transportation and photography business, mobile phone assembling and repairs.



Source: GNA