Development partnership with Schneider Electric
Project description
Title: Increasing the employability of young Nigerians in the solar energy sector
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Nigeria
Lead executing agency: Schneider Electric Nigeria Ltd.
Overall term: 2017 to 2020
Context
Enabling access to electricity is one of the greatest challenges in Nigeria. Just short of 60 per cent of households in urban areas have access to electricity. In rural areas, the figure is even lower, at just 40 per cent. In addition, the power supply is inadequate and unreliable.
Solar power may provide a solution to this problem. At the same time, the solar power sector offers great potential in terms of jobs, as there is a lack of qualified personnel. Above all, there is a need for solar engineers for setting up and maintaining photovoltaic systems
Appropriate training courses can teach the corresponding skills and create new prospects, in particular for unemployed young people in Nigeria. According to data from the World Bank, the country had a youth unemployment rate of around 19.6 per cent in 2019. However, the training sector suffers from a lack of financial support and equipment and insufficiently qualified teaching staff.
Objective
Training courses have improved the employability of young Nigerians in the solar energy sector. Local governments are investing in additional technical training courses.
Approach
The develoPPP.de development partnership with Schneider Electric supports not only the qualification of training staff, but also the procurement of appropriate equipment for the solar training courses; the project identifies the existing shortcomings to be addressed.
To begin with, the project selects three different training centres at which courses on the topic of solar energy are to be offered. The second step is for the training staff at the selected institutes to take two courses: a five-week technical training course on the topic of installing photovoltaic systems and a four-week course on basic pedagogical principles.
Based on these training courses, the training staff subsequently provide solar training courses of their own at their centres to pass on the knowledge they have acquired. At the end of the course, the students take a written test, which prepares and qualifies them for the national examination.
The training courses also include a one-week module on the topic of entrepreneurship, which teaches the students the basic principles of self-employment.
Results
Eleven trainers from three different centres received in-depth training on the installation of solar/photovoltaic systems. They also took part in a training course on basic pedagogical principles. Thanks to the technological and methodological expertise they have gained, the trainers will be able to offer solar training courses at their institutes in future, thus contributing to the employability of young Nigerians in the solar energy sector.
