The Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND) on 23 February 2020, signed an MoU with the German international development agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH to develop Nigeria’s human capital for improved access to renewable energy and energy efficiency in Nigeria through the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP).
The Nigerian Energy Support Progamme (NESP) is a technical assistance programme, co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Government and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in collaboration with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Power. The program aims to enable and foster investments in a domestic market for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency as well as improved access to electricity for disadvantaged, mostly rural communities across the country.
Through this partnership, PIND and GIZ will collaboratively facilitate the development of capacity building and educational activities for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency activities in Nigeria by delivering courses that confer professional qualifications relevant to the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency market development in Nigeria.
In 2019, PIND and GIZ partnered together and successfully implemented the Skills Development for Youth Employment – SKYE programme, a four-year programme funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
The programme provided 200 vulnerable young Nigerians with need-based technical vocational education and training on the technological aspects of both developments, as well as the business models that can support job creation, entrepreneurship, and poverty alleviation in an innovative and economically sustainable way to address youth unemployment in Nigeria.