As the United Nations creates more awareness for youth skills in the month of July, AlignAcademy’s Young Entrepreneurs Club has unveiled plans to empower more youths during the month of July with business skills – through a series of virtual consultations designed to connect young people with business ideas with the expert help they need to grow. To celebrate the key role of youths in the economic development of our society, the Young Entrepreneurs Club is challenging more young people to take a step closer towards achieving their entrepreneurial objectives by seeking out the advisory help and mentoring they need.
“We want to give young people who are ready for personal growth the skills they can use to seize the opportunities available in today’s economy” said Engr Winston C. Ikekeonwu, director of AlignAcademy’s Young Entrepreneurs Club, in Jos. “We are doing our part to help kick-start more small and medium scale businesses, as SMEs are still the top employers of labour. Solving the unemployment problem doesn’t only hinge on the efforts of governments and their agencies. We can also help out with the resources we have.”
The Young Entrepreneurs Club’s skill program is coming against the backdrop of major concerns globally on the rising unemployment rates among the youths. With statistics available from the International Labour Organization, young people are three times as likely as adults (25 years and older) to be unemployed. Engr Ikekeonwu believes this is partly because the young people have limited skills to fit into the workplace and even more so with the socio-economic aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. The director of the Young Entrepreneurs Club further noted the need for urgent action if the objectives of the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development are to be achieved.
Ikekeonwu continued: “We find the figures from the United Nations disturbing: globally 1 in 5 young people is classified as NEET: that is, Not in Employment, Education or Training. And 3 out every 4 NEETs are women. Already there are projections that half a billion people could be pushed into poverty as a result of the economic ripple effects of the COVID-19 epidemic. If more young people aren’t empowered with workable business skills as soon as possible, what sort of world do we expect to live in within the next 5 -10 years?”
Entrepreneurs who are interested in finding out the free business development support and mentoring they can qualify for in AlignAcademy’s Young Entrepreneurs Club should contact Engr Winston C Ikekeonwu at winston@alignacademy.com
To get free information on how your business can help more families, please visit www.alignacademy.com today.