Youth skilled to create 250,000 jobs
At least 575 youth graduates and beneficiaries of the KCB-GIZ Twekozese Programme were recently passed out following successful completion of their vocational training at Datamine, Lugogo and Ntinda vocational training institutes.
The beneficiaries were skilled in masonry, carpentry, plumbing, welding and electric installation.
The Twekozese program under KCB Foundation seeks to create self-employment and establish enterprises among unskilled and semi-skilled youth in Uganda.
The programme focuses on growing youth led micro-businesses in the informal sector and bringing them to a place where they can employ at least five other young people with an aim of creating 250,000 jobs over five years.
It is expected to further support the government agenda of solving the youth unemployment in Uganda as well as promoting the Sustainable Development Goals on Gender Equality & Decent work and economic growth.
The KCB-GIZ programme was launched in July 2021 when KCB Bank through KCB Foundation and the German International Cooperation (GIZ) joined forces to increase the employability and income generation of youth in the construction sector.
Both partners committed a combined Shs 6 billion towards the Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) Programme that was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), co-funded by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) and is implemented by GIZ to make the KCB-GIZ Twekozese programme a reality.
As a result, 2,165 youth enrolled for the programme and were up skilled in 3 Cohorts administered by 13 vocational training institutions across Uganda. Of the 2,165 beneficiaries, 32% are female and 5% are people living with disabilities.
GIZ E4D Uganda team leader, Donald Agaba, noted that this partnership seeks to promote employment by improving the skillset of youth working in the construction sector, in addition to providing them with toolkits to start their own businesses.
“This project is part of an integrated approach working on both the supply and demand sides of the labour market, through skills and enterprise development. On enterprise development, E4D works to boost competitiveness and growth of small and medium-sized businesses so they can enter lucrative supply and value chains and employ more youth along the way. On skills development, E4D works to bring the local workforce with demand-driven and up-to-date skills,” he said.
Dr. Patrick Byakatonda, Director of the Directorate of Industrial Training commended KCB Bank and GIZ for training the youth with hands-on skills and preparing them for the job market.
“The government of Uganda will continue to support such initiatives because they will lead to the social-economic transformation of our country,” he said.
