Port Novo - Benin — Seventy-three young men and women from 13 ECOWAS Member States on Thursday 18th October 2012, received certificates fortsuccessfully completing an intensive entrepreneurial training in integrated agriculture at the Songhai Centre, Porto Novo, Benin Republic, under the youth capacity building programme of the ECOWAS Youth and Sports Development Centre (EYSDC). 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. This, according to the director is because “a wrong candidate selected for a training programme equals misplaced training and could in fact be a source of distraction for other trainees.” Mr. Njoaguana assured that the centre will put in place a monitoring/evaluation system to provide appropriate support measures for trained youths to enable them to follow through on their individual post- training business plans.
Further more, the Centre has also promised to set up a web-based network for trained youths to exchange and share ideas on best practices in entrepreneurship. Speaking on behalf of the Songhai Centre’s Director General, Rev. Fr. Godfrey Nzamujo, the Director of Training and Production, Mr. Justin Lekoto paid tribute to ECOWAS for partnering with the Songhai Centre on capacity building and youth empowerment in the region. He said although the one-month training may appear short, it was enough period for the trainees to acquire the necessary capacity for a successful entrepreneurship , reminding them that an entrepreneur is not only an innovator and inventor, but a business leader, who makes the most of every opportunity.
Consequently, Mr. Lekoto said the ball was now in the court of the trainees to put the knowledge they gained during training into meaningful practice for their benefit and that of the community. 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. This 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 ESYDC’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, youth on the prevention and settlement of conflicts and peace consolidation, as well as development and promotion of traditional sports and games.
