Youths to be equipped with vocational skills

The KCB Foundation and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ) have joined forces to increase the employability and income generation of 2,000 Ugandan youth in the construction sector.

The Shs6 billion partnership from July 2021 until June 2023 will provide youth with technical and vocational skills training.

The funds will also support the provision of construction toolkits to 440 youth, to enable them to start up business enterprises in the construction sector.

This project is under the Employment and Skills for Development in Africa (E4D) programme 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, and KCB Bank Uganda’s Twekozese Programme.

Twekozese seeks to create self-employment and establish enterprises among unskilled and semi-skilled youth in Uganda. 

Twekozese Programme which was launched in 2016, focuses on growing youth micro- businesses in the informal sector and brings 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.

Speaking at the media launch of the partnership, KCB Bank Uganda’s managing director; Edgar Byamah said the partnership is aligned with KCB’s shared value approach that champions businesses to solve societal challenges, anchoring the foundation programmes.

“The shock to the economy caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has negatively affected small businesses setting back the country’s job creation efforts for the youth. We are looking at sustainable solutions to remedy the situation. As such, this project will up skill the youth in the construction sector, which has demonstrated significant job creation potential based on industry trends,” said Byamah.

The programme will target a mixture of 70% male and 30% female youth, with a bias towards unskilled individuals previously working in the construction sector.

The youth will be trained in masonry and brickwork, carpentry and joinery, plumbing and pipe work, electrical installation and welding and metalwork, among other trades.

GIZ E4D Uganda team leader, Donald Agaba, noted that this partnership seeks to promote employment by improving the skills of youth working in the construction sector and providing them with tools to start their own businesses.

“This is part of an integrated approach working on both the supply and demand sides of the labour market, to boost growth of small and medium-sized businesses so they can meet the growing demand for quality workers, suppliers and services in the market, and employ more youth along the way. Ultimately, our goal is to promote the creation of more decent and sustainable jobs and improve the employment situation in Uganda,” he said.