The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda’s youthfulness is often described as an advantage. It can also be a liability. A country in which more than 70% of the population is below 30 needs to create productive work at a pace that matches the growth of its working-age population. Otherwise, a demographic dividend can become a source of economic pressure.
That is the backdrop to a new cohort of 201 young people graduating from digital and vocational training programmes run by MTN Foundation and Smart Girls Foundation.
The graduates include 183 who completed information and communications technology training under the Girls in Tech programme and 18 who trained in electrical installation, plumbing, motor-vehicle mechanics and tailoring. Their certificates were awarded by the Uganda Vocational and Technical Assessment Board under the Ministry of Education and Sports.
The programme is small when measured against Uganda’s youth population. Its significance lies elsewhere: in the attempt to connect training with the practical requirements of an economy in which many young people cannot expect a formal job simply because they have completed their education.
“By equipping young people with practical digital and vocational skills, we are enabling them to secure employment, start enterprises, generate income and build better futures,” says Rhona Arinaitwe, MTN’s senior manager for corporate communications and public relations.
The partnership began in 2019 with 30 young women learning motor-vehicle mechanics. Since then, more than 1,300 young people have completed digital and ICT training, while more than 130 have acquired vocational skills.
The programme has a particular focus on women. They account for 80% of participants, with the remainder being young men. The training takes participants into occupations ranging from technology to electrical installation and motor-vehicle mechanics, where women have traditionally had a smaller presence.
For Jamila Mayanja, founder of Smart Girls Foundation, the change is measured not simply in the number of graduates but in the opportunities that follow.
“We started with 30 girls in mechanics. Today we are seeing hundreds of young women gaining skills that position them to earn an income, build careers, start businesses and participate in sectors that are shaping the future economy,” she says.
One graduate, Halimah Nairah Nanyange, trained in electrical installation and subsequently started a solar-energy business. Her experience illustrates the potential of vocational education to move people from seeking employment to creating it.
That transition is increasingly important. Uganda’s economy must accommodate a large and growing pool of young workers, while employers are demanding skills that are not always supplied by conventional education. Digitalisation is adding another layer to the problem, creating new occupations while changing the skills required in existing ones.
Vocational training can help close part of that gap. But training by itself cannot manufacture jobs. Its economic value depends on whether businesses are growing, whether entrepreneurs can access finance and markets, and whether the economy is creating enough demand for the skills being taught.
MTN Foundation has expanded its skills programmes beyond the partnership with Smart Girls Foundation. MTN ACE and the MTN Skills Academy, for example, focus on digital and technology capabilities intended to prepare young people for employment, entrepreneurship and innovation.
Baker Kazibwe, mayor of Kasangati Town Council and chief guest at the graduation, commended the collaboration between government, the private sector and civil society in preparing young people for a changing labour market.
The programmes are also aligned with Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the Sustainable Development Goals on education, decent work, gender equality and innovation.
The larger challenge remains national rather than institutional. Uganda needs to convert its youthful population into a source of higher productivity and rising incomes. That will require skills, but also investment, expanding enterprises and jobs.
