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The Federal Government has rolled out a skills-to-jobs initiative, said to be the largest government-anchored digital skills-to-employment project in Nigeria’s history through its iDICE Programme. The initiative targets 300,000 young Nigerians for training and active linkage to jobs in the digital and creative sectors.
The initiative launches simultaneously across all six geopolitical zones, marking a defining milestone in the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and its commitment to building a generation of not only digitally-skilled, but also economically active young Nigerians.
The iDICE Skills-to-Jobs initiative is delivered under the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) Programme, a $617.7 million initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria flagship that is co-financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Agence Française de Development (AFD), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), with the Bank of Industry (BOI) serving as both a co-financier and executing agency.
Six implementing partners, each anchored in each of Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, have been competitively selected to train and actively link the programme graduates to job opportunities in Nigeria’s growing digital and creative economy and the global outsourcing market. The programme targets an employment linkage rate of at least 80 per cent of trained beneficiaries; this translates to job opportunities for a minimum of 240,000 young Nigerians upon completing their training.
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Participants will be trained across three tracks – basic, intermediate, and advanced, each designed to meet learners where they are and build progressively towards job-ready competencies. Training combines online learning with physical sessions, removing barriers of location and device access for young Nigerians in both urban and rural communities.
About 300,000 young Nigerians between the ages of 15 and 35 will benefit from this initiative, with coverage spanning all 36 states and the FCT. Inclusion is non-negotiable: a minimum of 40 per cent of all beneficiaries will be female, and at least 5 per cent will be persons living with disabilities and young people who are Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET). This ensures gender equity and social inclusion. Beneficiary selection shall be conducted through a structured and transparent screening process managed by implementing partners under the oversight of the Bank of Industry.
Reacting to the programme rollout, the Vice President Kashim Shettima said: “The iDICE Skills-to-Jobs Initiative is a concrete expression of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda. We are not training young Nigerians and leaving them to find their own way. We are building the bridge from skills to employment, connecting 300,000 of our brightest young people to digital and creative jobs that the 21st century global economy demands. Nigeria has the talent. This programme offers an invaluable pathway.”
Bank of Industry Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Olasupo Olusi, also spoke to the significance of the initiative saying: “iDICE is a programme that is centred on sustainable economic transformation, and the Skills-to-Jobs component is one of its most powerful levers. By channelling the Federal Government’s investment into a structured pipeline of digitally-skilled, job-ready young Nigerians, we are catalysing BOI’s primary mandate to facilitate economic growth, by not only providing the requisite skills set and creating sustainable jobs for our teeming youth population, but also ensuring the favourable conditions for them to participate productively in the process. The scale of this programme, 300,000 beneficiaries across every zone of the country reflect the ambition that the moment requires.”
