Schneider Electric in partnership with PowerForAll and Rockerfeller Foundation earlier this week in Abuja launched a campaign to develop human capital towards curbing a widening unemployment gap in the power sector.

The powering jobs campaign became necessary sequel to a recent study by PowerForAll which revealed that there is an urgent need to develop human capital in Nigeria and other sub-Saharan countries, in order to secure their participation in job creation and economic growth. The report showed a huge gap, which is growing, in the available renewable energy jobs to Nigerians compared to what is available globally.

Out of a total 10.3 million jobs that will be created to cater for 1billion people without electricity, a paltry 76,000 (less than 1percent) is available to Nigeria, whose teeming young population needs it most.

In order to change the narrative, the interactive brainstorming sessions at the campaign launch were themed: “Increasing investment in decentralized renewable energy (DRE)-focussed education towards job creation and economic growth” and “Galvanizing stake holders’ action for human capital needed to achieve SDG 7”

In his keynote address, Moyosore Sodipe, the head for Access to Energy Business Development for Anglophone West Africa, stated that: “Schneider Electric is committed to tackling the challenge of jobs shortage in the energy sector and had already begun”.

He noted that the collaborating partners will equip Nigerians in order to take advantage of the window of opportunity to create jobs and groom entrepreneurs.

Identifying a list of products and activities people at the bottom of the pyramid could engage in for quick wins on job creation, he noted the relevance of Schneider Electric’s training programmes in technical and vocational schools.

Schneider Electric is known to create room for high school students to visit its facilities in order to acquaint themselves with its operations way ahead of possible rewarding carriers in power sector. Schneider Electric also engages in donating equipment to technical and vocational centres to enhance trainings, while ensuring that it trains the trainer and provides industry-relevant curricula.

As at third quarter of 2018, Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 36.5%