CITAD partners with British Council, PTI for youth entrepreneurship programme

The Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), in its effort to pave the way for youth to be fully engaged, has entered into a partnership with the British Council and Prince Trust International (PTI) by inaugurating an orientation programme for the successful candidates of the “Youth Sustainable Enterprise Challenge Programme.”

However, the event, which was held at Nasarawa Guest Palace in Kano, welcomed 80 ambitious youth from all 44 local government areas of the state.

Speaking on the occasion, the Executive Director of CITAD, Alhaji Y.Z. Ya’u, who was represented by one of the centre’s scribes, Mallam Shazali Sanusi Suleiman, disclosed that the initiative is targeted at cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset among the young participants.

According to him,” The programme is geared towards ensuring that youth who are aspiring to flourish as prosperous entrepreneurs are given the needed mentorship and other necessary supports.”

He hinted that it’s imperative to encourage them to contribute value to their businesses.

Alhaji Ya’u stated that the program’s goal is to reduce unemployment by empowering youths to become employers of labour.

While also speaking, the Senior Programmes Officer at CITAD, Alhaji Isah Garba, outlined the training’s various components to include life skills (ICT, photography, videography), soft skills (communication, problem-solving, finance management), and business skills (business development, navigating challenges, bookkeeping).

He said that the programme would top a sustainability plan, featuring a business pitch competition where successful entries would receive awards, providing a startup boost for their ventures.

Alhaji Isa then added that the participants would acquire comprehensive skills, ensuring the successful revitalization of their existing businesses by the program’s conclusion.

According to one of the facilitators of the programme, Zainab Aminu, the project was organised to give basic orientation on different types of skills to the youth, like basic ICT skills, autography, and many more.

“Here we’re having an orientation for beneficiaries of one of our youth projects, which is called the Sustainable Youth Enterprise Challenge.

“This is a project that is going to train them on different types of skills, like basic ICT skills, autography, videography, digital photography, and all sorts. and then there are soft skills that will teach them about communication, problem-solving, finance management, and all that,” she said.

In his remarks, the representative of Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, an SSA to the Governor on ICT and Innovation, Dr Yusuf Ibrahim Sharada, urged the youth to make use of the skills and knowledge they acquire in the best way possible in a situation where the government can no longer provide jobs to everyone.