Anambra State has been chosen as the venue for the Solar Hands-on Training and International Network of Exchange (SHINE) project, a capacity-building project, funded by the European Union (EU) Commission.
Mr. Lagarde Sergio, a Spanish capacity-building expert and staff of Mundus, a Spain-based company, disclosed this in Awka, the capital city of Anambra State on Wednesday, when the delegation and project team visited the Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Youth Empowerment Programme, Dr. Nelson Omenugha, for interaction on the project.
The delegation comprised representatives from the various companies and countries that are part of the project, including Mundus (Spain), Zubigune Fundazica (Spain), AKMI (Greece), INCLUDE Knowledge Platform (Netherlands), JOBITECH (Nigeria), Pan-Atlantic University (Nigeria), Start-up SME Centres, SSC (Ghana), Suame Technical Institute (Ghana), Kiryandongo Training Institute (Uganda), and Huys Link Vocational Training Centre (Uganda).
Speaking at the event, Sergio explained that SHINE is a capacity-building project funded by the EU Commission, and which seeks to drive the green transition and enhance energy access in the benefiting countries. He added that the goal of the project is to create an impactful program that will equip young people with solar technology skills for both the immediate and future benefits.
According to him, the project has a duration target of 36 months (3 years) and involves 10 organizations from Europe and Africa, which comprise Vocational Education Training (VET) providers and stakeholders from the educational and industrial sectors, as well as policymakers. These organisations and stakeholders, he said, work together and collaboratively in the project, to redesign a market-oriented VET program focused on solar panel technology, on which they will train the youths (the trainees) under the project.
While noting that the project will have a pilot phase from which it will be expanded, Sergio also revealed that the choice of Anambra as the location for the project was informed by certain factors they believe will help the project thrive in the country and Africa at large.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Leader of the team and Director of the Johnbosco Institute of Technology (JOBITECH), Rev. Fr. Christopher Anso, said the delegation was in the state on a study visit, to see and study the situation on ground vis-a-vis solar technology sector, and then develop a solar technology training model and curriculum that can be more entrepreneurial and impactful, such that when the youths or the trainees are trained using the curriculum, they will become more viable, more productive, more skillful and self-employed.
He explained that the consortium involves six countries — three countries from Europe (Spain, Greece, and Netherlands) and three countries from Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, and Uganda) — adding that the kick-off meeting had earlier been held in Spain where Mundus, the coordinating body in the project, is located. He said the kick-off meeting in Spain was then followed by study visits to the other five countries involved in the project, and which, he said, brought them to Anambra, being the chosen state for the study visit and the project implementation in Nigeria.
Giving more overview on the initiative, Fr. Anso said the project has a general objective of delivering an innovative capacity building program in Solar Technology Training, with some specific objectives. These objectives, he said, will also help to ensure environmental sustainability, economic diversification, among many other broad and specific benefits to the participants, the state, and the country at large.
Responding, the Special Adviser to Governor Chukwuma Soludo on Youth Empowerment Programme, Dr. Omenugha, on behalf of the Governor, welcome the delegation to Anambra, and expressed gratitude for their choice of Anambra State as the location for the SHINE project in Nigeria, out of many other states in the country.
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