Ninety-five youths in Kano State have been trained in digital entrepreneurship skills with the focus on leveraging artificial intelligence and digital applications in agro-production, marketing, and value-chain production.
The initiative is aimed at addressing youth unemployment, promoting self-reliance and boosting agricultural production in the state.
The youths who were trained by the London Academy Business School (LABS), University of Sunderland, UK, in partnership with the AA Zaura Foundation International, were awarded a diploma certificate over the weekend in Kano.
Speaking during their graduation ceremony, the Founder of AA Zaura Foundation International, Abdulsalam Abdulkarim, said the programme will enable the beneficiaries to create opportunities instead of waiting for them.
He explained that the initiative will empower the youths to build viable agri-tech businesses, attract investment, and create jobs while utilizing the digital tools to transform agriculture, scale up productivity, and solve real-world challenges.
“The goal is to lead agriculture from soil to screen and connect local markets to the global marketplace,” he stated.
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However, Abdulkarim urged the state government to provide an enabling environment for the youths by initiating favourable policies, attracting investments, providing mentorship, and infrastructure to be able to integrate the youths into larger value chains to drive Nigeria’s agricultural and technological entrepreneurship rebirth.
While restating the foundation’s commitment to youth empowerment and fostering inclusive prosperity, Abdulkarim urged the graduates to judiciously use the knowledge acquired to lead and feed communities digitally for sustainable development.
Speaking earlier, the Country Director of LABS, Dr. Abdullahi Usman, noted that with the nature of how business has changed and gone digital, there is a need for training on that aspect for more gains.
He highlighted that the concept of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and digital entrepreneurship training is the first of its kind, which is carefully designed to meet the needs of entrepreneurs for a change of mindset to succeed.