73 young men, women from ECOWAS complete entrepreneurial training

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - An intensive entrepreneurial training in integrated agriculture at the Songhai Centre, Porto Novo, Benin Republic, for 73 young men and women from 13 ECOWAS member states rounded off Thursday with the issuance of certificates to the participants.

An ECOWAS Commission statement made available to PANA here Friday said the training was held under the youth capacity building programme of the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC).

The sixth edition of the EYSDC-sponsored training brings to 361 the number of Community youths trained in integrated agricultural entrepreneurship at the Centre since 2007.

More than 200 other community youths have also been trained by the EYSDC in Building and Electrical Wiring at the Soufouroulaye Centre in Mali between 2008 and 2010, while another set of youths would undergo training in Air Conditioning, Refrigeration and Motor Mechanic at the
Burkina Faso’s Reference Centre for Professional and Vocational Training in Ziniare.

The EYSDC’s capacity-building programme seeks to contribute to the Community’s youth empowerment and employment initiatives, including the ECOWAS Volunteer Programme, which also caters for young people between the ages of 18 and 35.

In addition to the promotion of sports, the Centre is also involved in the training and capacity building, collection and management of database and network administration, collection of information/data relating to youth associations as well as Information, Communication and Telecommunication (ICT) training.

The Centre’s programmes also contribute to youth employment and poverty alleviation, as well as development and promotion of traditional sports and games.

In a speech to mark the end training, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Human Development and Gender, Dr. Adrienne Diop, urged the trainees to take their destiny in their own hands by making discipline their watchword.

“Success in any profession proceeds from self-discipline and respect for laid down rules and regulations,” she said in the speech read by the Director of the Ouagadougou based EYSDC, Mr Francis Njoaguani, stressing the Centre’s determination to strengthen and ensure strict adherence to the selection criteria for its training programmes.

Speaking on behalf of the trainees, Mr. Gilbert Jassey thanked ECOWAS, through the EYSDC and the Songhai Centre, for the training, describing the event as very important in the history of youths in the region.

He called on ECOWAS and partners to provide trainees with start-up capital and also to support the formation of an Africa Youth Network on Agribusiness Development for the actualization of the objectives of the training.
-0- PANA SEG 19Oct2012