By Aisha Sambo
As a young person, I grow concerned over the alarming rate of unemployment currently at 35% and counting, what gives me hope is knowing that an organisation such as iCreate Africa exists. Early this year the organisation announced plans to equip over five million youths on the continent with vocational and technical skills. This social enterprise is solving one of Africa’s largest problems. The problem is not unemployment in Africa, but actually the lack of employability. This is an even bigger gap than unemployability itself, lack of skills and skilled workers are robbing us of our progress. What started off as an idea has now manifested into a hub that beams its focus on artisans and skilled workers for construction. The Founder, iCreate Africa, Bright Jaja, in a statement in his recent interview with CNN said: “The goal is to get more young people in Africa to embrace technical and vocational skills without being afraid of the stereotype.”Jaja, who started iCreate Africa, in 2017, has successfully trained over 20,000 young people in vocational and technical skills. “We identify experts and match them with aspirants who basically enroll in an apprenticeship for about 3 months to one year period. Some of the trades we focus on are carpentry, graphic design, web design, and basically everything technical and vocational,” he added.
Introducing iCreate Africa, a hub for skilled excellence and development. The mandate of the organisation is to prioritise technical skills as a global currency and tool that empowers citizens to create sustainable and inclusive economies. Bright Jaja, the founder kick started a competition iCreate Skills Fest through his organisation and this year they held the 5th edition in Abuja, which I hosted. Why the iCreate Festival? With its pillars of development, iCreate presents platform to birth new ideas and teach new skills. It also serves as a skills training centre to provide in-demand skills training to youths. iCreate Skills Fest is the largest technical and vocational skills competition and exhibition in Africa designed to promote careers in construction by highlighting the values and opportunities in the trade professions. Previously they had hosted this competition in Kaduna, Enugu, and Lagos, and this year’s edition was held at the International conference centre, Abuja. The competition is for artisans or we refer to them ‘SKILLERS’, and for this year’s edition, the Skillers competed by showcasing their construction skills, products and services. There are 8 categories where 3 Skillers from each category competed to win cash prizes, tools and equipments. The categories for this year are; titling, plumbing, masonry, carpentry, electrical installation, painting, welding and bricklaying. For three days the Skillers worked for 20 hours across three days to execute their test projects.
The competitors were from all around Africa, Togo, Ghana, Benin Republic, and Nigeria. Beyond the competition, there were so many other interesting activities happening, a virtual reality booth and exhibitions. Food and drinks were made available at the venue. The exhibitors at the skills fest included construction companies, real estate firms, manufacturers of building materials and equipment. It’s fascinating to see how the space for the event transformed and now we have a space and a network in Nigeria that connects skilled professionals across Africa to employers, service providers, and manufacturers of building materials. For this year’s edition of the following cash prizes were awarded;
First place (Gold) N300,000
Second place (Silver) N 200,000
Third place (Bronze) N100,000
The judges were representatives from the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the Nigerian Institute of Architects and the Federation of Construction Companies. Skillers were judged based on some of the following; safe work, organisation and management, reading and interpreting drawings and written instructions, assembly, finishing, problem-solving, innovation, and creativity to name a few. The competitors were guided by experts and assisted by students from the Nigerian Technical school. What a way to introduce the younger technical skillers into the competition and workforce encouraging them and other Africans around the world to be interested in attending technical schools.
As the competition kicked off, all the amazing talented Skillers raced against the clock to deliver their innovative and creative ideas to the judges and the audience. On the second day the tension increased and the skillers continued working on their test projects, three panel sessions were held and by the third day, which was also the last day, the venue was filled with emotions as the night progressed tears rolled down many of the eyes of the young skillers as they successfully completed their test projects. The award show was hosted later that same evening with the top 3 winners from each category accepting their medals, cash prizes, tools and equipments sponsored by Bosh, Giz, El-Amin International School Abuja, and Skillers. Out of all the contestants, only two female Skillers participated and were each awarded a N250,000 cash prize courtesy of Aisha Babangida, the chairperson of the Better Life Program for African women and Women Enterprise Alliance, who has been a stakeholder of iCreate Africa.
I believe in the ripple effect of what Mr. Jaja has created and I look forward to listening to more testimonies from the participants about how iCreateAfrica has made them more employable by adding value to their work etiquette. It was fantastic to see skills such as bricklaying celebrated and awarded. Tilers who are typically looked down on were being celebrated at iCreate Skills Fest. iCreate Africa targets training over 5 million young people across the continent. Now, mere looking at this, one would think it is almost impossible. But Jaja, a great lover of the youth of Nigeria, has set his mind to it and it is only a matter of time before this dream becomes a reality.
So are you skilled and got what it takes to be a leader in your field? Then join iCreate Skills Fest or Skillers online. The age limit for the competition is 21 to 35 years old, if you’re thinking of joining the next edition, other criteria include being an African and having a skill available to compete in, terms and conditions apply. The focus for iCreate Africa is to address the societal perception affecting youth participation in technical skills by rebranding technical skills, uplifting the profiles of skilled professionals and projecting skills in the mainstream with platforms such as Skillers and iCreateSkills Fest. Beyond celebrating Skillers, it’s also an online platform that promotes a system of decent wages for artisans, especially in the construction industry. Young people can equally get professional training on bricklaying and electrical installation and other skills while also having access to employers of these skills. Mr. Jaja and his team have inspired hundreds of young people to develop their passion for skills and pursue excellence. This is the Nigeria and Africa I want to be a part of, this is what we’re all about, excellence, handwork, resilience, creativity, passion, and above all, SKILL.
If you are developer, architects, engineer, artisan, supplier or manufacture of building materials then this is the place to be. For more information, visit www.skillfest.icreateafrica.com or call +23490974888215
To stay updated with this event follow these instagram handles @iCreateafrica and @skillers_ng
You can so subscribe to my YouTube Channel (Aisha Sambo) for behind the scenes of my experience shooting and hosting for iCreate Skills Fest 2022.
