In order to fill the industrial skills gap in Nigeria, the Dangote Academy has now trained over 700 engineers and Technicians between 2011 and 2018, with most of them being employed by the company.
According to Group Executive Director Capital Projects, Strategy and Portfolio of Dangote Group, Mr. DVG Edwin, the Dangote Academy was established in 2010 to serve as the talent pipeline for the Dangote Group while filling the industrial skills gap in Nigeria.
Edwin, who stated this at the induction of 100 new students recently at Obajana, Kogi State, noted that the Junior Technicians Scheme (JTS) Batches 3 and 4, further supports host communities of Obajana and Ibese as 50 of the newly inducted trainees were drawn from the two communities.
He said that the Academy has become necessary in view of the fact that the Group and indeed most industries in Nigeria cannot rely solely on universities and colleges of technology to provide the specialised technical and managerial training required running major (modern) industrial factories.
He noted that the newly admitted Junior Technicians Batches 3 & 4 who will be undergoing the eighteen (18) months training programme in the hands of perhaps the most experienced engineers in the world and in cement plants having modern equipment and using advanced technology.
“It is therefore expected that at the end of the 18 month training programme, these 100 young Nigerians being admitted today will become master technicians in any one or more of the following areas, namely; electrical installation and maintenance,welding and fabrication, machining and fitting, mechanical maintenance, automobile maintenance, and instrumentation. All of these are critical skills area for the development of any community or nation”, he added.
He said the Group through the Dangote Academy trained about 10, 000 employees in 2017 through delivered and supported training programmes!
In the execution of its academic programmes, the Dangote Academy, he said, is partnering with the German Association of Equipment Manufacturers (VDMA), National Office for Technology Acquisition & Promotion (NOTAP), Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), and the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), among others.