To further promote and protect the diversity of cultural expressions in Africa, the UNESCO Institute for African Culture and International Understanding has trained additional 20 students on entrepreneurial skills to make a career in creative and cultural industries.
Welcoming participants to the event held at its office at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, the director of the institute and former executive secretary of the National universities Commission (NUC), Professor Peter Okebukola, said UNESCO through the institute is passionate and committed to equipping many African youths who are interested in creative arts with the right knowledge and skills to become successful entrepreneurs in the cultural and creative industries.
He said that the belief is that upon training, the students would now or in the future make a career; produce goods and provide services within the two industries.
Represented at the free training programme, the third in the series, by the former Nigeria’s High Commissioner to India and now Senior Programme Advisor to the UNESCO Institute for African Culture and International Understanding, Ambassador Adebola Labiran, Okebukola said that the opportunity the trainees, who are mostly from Nigeria and Benin Republic had, particularly over people in the industry in the past, is that they could explore digital environment and do their work more effectively and profitably.
He said the institute quite understood that cultural and creative industries had become essential industries noted for economic growth, reducing inequalities and achieving the goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
He said that was why the institute was making frantic efforts to raise many more youths in Africa in that regard.
He noted that part of the efforts is to train over 100 youths by next year on how to make various cultural goods.
He said on the part of UNESCO, the institute would continue to raise awareness towards achieving the 2005 UNESCO convention which is to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions and to also encourage signatory countries to utilise the digital environment in promoting the convention.
He implored participants to understand that cultural goods and services are not mere commodities or consumer goods like any others, but goods that convey cultural identity, values and meaning.
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