Washington D.C. : Minister of Labour and Employment Chris Ngige has urged the United States to assist African nations to establish an Africa Skill Development Fund to facilitate the creation and training of skilled manpower.
A statement by the Deputy Director (Press) in the ministry, Samuel Olowookere, quoted the minister as saying that skill acquisition could mitigate the rising poverty and unemployment on the continent.
Ngige, who was speaking on the second day of the Labour and Trade Ministerial Roundtable of the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) in Washington D.C, United States, said such a fund would tackle increasing unemployment and poverty.
The Labour minister, who led the joint Labour and Trade delegation to the Forum, said skill development and empowerment would tackle poverty and unemployment.
He said ‘’child labour, human trafficking, cheap and slave labour were products of the base factor of poverty, which diverse skill development and empowerment could tackle. A skilled youth population will make for an all-inclusive social protection for the group as well as being fundamental in tackling poverty in Africa. This will also snowball into entrepreneurship”.
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.
