Shettima hails Google's N1.2 billion grant for one million digital jobs in Nigeria

Vice President Kashim Shettima has praised Google for its N1.2 billion grant initiative for the Federal Government's Million Jobs Initiative.

He was praised when he received an executive from the tech giant at the presidential villa in Abuja on Tuesday.

The VP observed that the announcement of a grant to support the current administration's digital jobs initiative is worthy of emulation by other companies.

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Shettima said, "Let's think outside the box and create more job opportunities. We have to follow the lead. It's easy to pontificate but very hard to make every idea come true. I want to assure you that this administration is ready to partner with you.

“Nigeria is ready for business. The president we have now wants to leave a legacy that Nigerians will be proud of for many years to come.”

On the potential of Nigeria's young population, Shettima said, "We have a unique opportunity to harness the potential of our huge youth population to create millions of jobs in the digital sector.

“We have more English speakers than many countries in Africa and elsewhere. We missed the agricultural era, we missed the industrial era and we are now in the post-industrial era focused on We have the potential and a unique opportunity to close the anticipated global talent gap.

"Access Bank is doing a lot in terms of digital skills, training 1,000 young people in digital skills to create job opportunities. We are working with Wema Bank, Bank of Industry and other partners on this project. We are ready to partner with Google. We will work closely with you for the good of our nation,” he added.

Earlier in his remarks, Google West Africa Director Mr. Olumide Balogun said the company was excited about the Tinubu administration's vision to create one million digital jobs and was committing over N1.2 billion in grants to support the initiative.

He added that the company, through the program, would provide digital skills to more than 20,000 young people and women to improve their lives and livelihoods, and also enable several startups to grow and create thousands of jobs in the sector.

Also speaking, Google Africa's Director of Government Relations and Public Policy, Mr. Charles Murito, said the company remains committed to investing in digital infrastructure across Africa, noting that digital transformation on the continent can be the engine of targeted tech jobs.

He spoke of Africa's potential, noting that "Google cannot achieve its vision and goals if it does not effectively cover Nigeria".

The Google initiative is designed to train 20,000 Nigerian women and young people in digital skills.

The program is facilitated by a grant from the philanthropic arm of Google to “Mind the Gap” in partnership with Data Science Nigeria and the Creative Industry Initiative for Africa.

According to a statement released by Olusola Bello, Director of Information in the Office of the Vice President, the initiative aligns with the commitment of the administration of President Bola Tinubu to increase the participation of young Nigerians in the digital economy by creating 1 million digital jobs.

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