LAGOS – On 31 October, 2022, United Nations Development Programme and Microsoft  signed an Memorandum of Understanding to explore institutionalized partnerships and define pathways to enhance linkages with the broader technology ecosystem which would further advance the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria. The MOU signed touched on key issues that mainly relates to Youth empowerment and placements of Fellows of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme, the transfer of digital skills to young Nigerians and the brokering partnerships to foster technology transfer.

Speaking during the signing of the MOU, Ms. Ola Williams, Microsoft Nigeria Country Manager noted that “ The tech industry has seen tremendous growth in the last few years, significantly scaling the tech ecosystem. We are committed to enabling the younger population benefit from the opportunities created by this growth within the tech ecosystem by providing the necessary avenues and linkages they need. We are delighted as Microsoft to partner with the United Nations Development Programme to advance these efforts with the aim of impacting more young people and transforming their lives."

Partnerships with the private and public sector are criticle to how the United Nations Development Programme delivers on its strategic offer to Nigeria’s development challenges across the programmatic pillars of Inclusive and susatainable  growth, Climate Change and environment, Democratic govrnance and peacebuilding, and Crisis response and resilience. These partnerships are enablers to achieving the developmental goals as well as to unlocking opportunities for digital parterships for development.

Mr. Mohammed Yahya, Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme briefied the Microsoft Managing Director and Team on the importance of such partnerships. He additionaly mentioned the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme – a Country Office flagship programme that responds to the growing unemployment issue by connecting fresh graduates to placement opportunities in the Private Sector with entities such as Microsoft. “Private sector partnerships as such are critical to how we reimagine Nigeria and create opportunities for the young people. Let me employ Microsoft to tap into these skill pool of young people to tranfer digital skills, software engineering skills and deploy mentors and career coaches, said Mr. Yahya.

The Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) is a youth empowerment employment initiative that is being championed by the Federal Government of Nigeria to further its agenda on human capital social investment programmes with a focus on youths. This initiate is being implemented with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and with funding from the European Union. The NJFP will seek to bridge the gap of unemployment and human resource demands of the job market by connecting young talented graduates with local job opportunities that apply their expertise, while equipping them with world-class practical knowledge and relevant skills. The programme will serve all of Nigeria – from North to South and East to West – ensuring that organisations and youth from all corners of the country can participate through merit-based selection.

To compliment the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme, the “Spaces Initiative” is being rolled out jointly with selected public universities’ geo-political zones with the objective of transforming universities into spaces for experimentation, innovation, and experimental learning. The goal for the Spaces Initiative will be to initiate 6 pilots in 6 public universities in each geopolitical zone. This initiative can build upon what Microsoft is already doing with universities.

In Kenya and Nigeria, Microsoft through the Africa Development Center has been championing collaboration with other technology partners. This collaboration is being done through Student Engagement Programs In Universities with the Education Tean and 4Afrika with the aim to provide proper support and resources for university partners to efficiently manage their workload and properly equip their students for the industry. With the University Partnership Program, resources and services are brought to campus: mentorship and speaking engagements by Microsoft professionals, Local support for Microsoft Student Ambassadors, Internship opportunities, University Recruiting, Access to online and in-person training, Access to online tools such as 0365, Azure, DevOps, etc. and On campus hackathon.

Note to Editors

About UNDP:

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the leading United Nations organisation fighting to end the injustices of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with a broad network of experts and partners in over 170 countries, UNDP helps nations to build integrated and lasting solutions for people and the planet.

 In Nigeria, UNDP provides technical and policy development support to the Federal Government of Nigeria and supports the implementation of interventions across various thematic areas to meet the medium to long-term national development prioritiesand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Learn more: https://www.undp.org/nigeria

About Microsoft

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Media Contact: 

Christabel Chanda - Ginsberg                                                                        

Public Engagement, Outreach & Partnerships Lead     

christabel.chanda-ginsberg@undp.org                        

Microsoft Contact

Mary Kihagi

Communications Lead

marykihagi@microsoft.com