Signing Ceremony and the Exchange of Notes for Japan’s Grant Aid “The Project for Promoting Youth Employment through Construction Equipment Operating Skills Training”
2021/10/2
On 28th September, 2021, H.E Mr. MIZUUCHI Ryuta, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of Zambia, and Mr. Khaled El Mekwad, UNIDO Representative, Regional Office in South Africa, signed and exchanged notes for the Grant Aid for “The Project for Promoting Youth Employment through Construction Equipment Operating Skills Training,” at the Ministry of Finance in Lusaka. This grant amounts to 417 million Japanese Yen (approx. 4 million US Dollars).
In Zambia, the construction sector with a special focus on the urban infrastructure and the mining sector, are attracting a lot of foreign investment, and there is a growing demand for workers with required heavy equipment operating skills. However, the reality is that the proportion of young generation without skills training is estimated to be 43% (2018), and the lack of vocational training is more pronounced among young women in particular (48.2%).
The project which will be conducted in collaboration with UNIDO and Hitachi Machinery Construction Zambia under the financial assistance from the Japanese Government, will develop the facilities and equipment of the existing construction equipment operator training centre in Kitwe, thereby contributing to the improvement of infrastructure and social services that support economic activities in the country. The project will run over a period of four years, from 2021 to 2025.
Through the development of the facilities and equipment, this project aims to underpin the Zambian Government in providing continuous and effective vocational training for construction equipment operators on its own.Furthermore, this project is in line with the Government of Japan’s support for strengthening waste management, based on the African Clean Cities Platform, as announced at the TICAD7 (the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development) in August 2019.
To read the speech by Ambassador MIZUUCHI at this ceremony, please click here.