The Enugu Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Centre has kick-started a new professional training program in the state to help the working, unemployed, and student populations maximize their skill sets.
The Enugu SME Center has organized a number of human capital development programs to advance economic and social evolution not only in Enugu but also in Nigeria and Africa. One of these programs is the Enugu SME Hardware Garage (ESHG) training.
With a reach of over 20,000 people between the ages of 18 and 35 in the last three years, Enugu SME has, in fact, brought about individual and collective economic advancement through their skill acquisition programs, living up to the mission to serve as frontiers of human capital development and enhanced livelihood. This has led to the creation of more startups, an increase in the workforce, and other positive macroeconomic indicators.
Arinze Chilo-Offiah, director general, Enugu SME Center and Special Adviser to the Enugu State Government on SME Development explained;
“We have always worked hard to ensure that Enugu State develops extensively, and we understand that a nation’s growth begins from the individual enhancement of its people. That’s why our focus has always been on human capital development.
“This training will be highly productive because we and the Enugu State Government have partnered with hardware tech and human capital development startups in Enugu State, Hardware Garage and Capitis Global Ventures Limited, to provide technical experts to instruct the participants.”
The three-month training course has been set up to produce a growing team of engineers and technicians from young people of all educational levels, who will gain first-hand technical knowledge in the building of inverters, installation of smart solar home systems, mobility manufacturing, the general operations and maintenance of power, and computer-controlled systems as well as agricultural technologies.
The participants will also receive intensive training to become industry-based business leaders and solar developers. The course will include theoretical and practical training with hands-on experience from a team of passionate founders, engineers, educators, and entrepreneurs.
In encouraging the residents of Enugu State to fully utilise this training, the Enugu SME Centre and the Hardware Garage have heavily subsidised the training fee from the original price of N150,000.
The agency has also made it possible for successful applicants to access its innovative zero-interest rate Human Capital Development Loans (HCDL) to be repaid eight (8) months after the training.
Successful graduates would also be supported with job access upon completion.
“We wish to create a new generation of trained personnel to revive manufacturing in Africa. We are targeting to create 15,000 trained workforce in Africa by 2031 to support the manufacturing sector with outsourced manpower and invest in Africa’s industrial sector by developing qualified engineering personnel,” Chilo-Offiah added.
The qualification for each category of training will be issued on three levels; Engineering level (EL), Technologist Level (TL), and Technician Level (TCL), based on the result of standard examinations taken by the trainees at the end of the programme.
At the end of the 3-month Enugu SME Hardware Garage Training, 30 percent of the participants will be offered internship and employment opportunities through Capitis Global Ventures and hardware garage. Twenty percent of participants will also be granted free access to entrepreneurial classes with product funding support to commence their businesses.
