Fidelity Bank, Gazelle Academy train 200 youths to boost entrepreneurship

In a bid to accommodate new areas of vocational training, while creating a veritable platform for building an entrepreneurial spirit in the country’s teeming youths, Fidelity Bank Plc has partnered with Gazelle Academy to train not less than 200 undergraduates.

The bank, has, however, expanded the scope of its Youth Empowerment Academy (YEA) with a strategic partnership with the Academy to commence the seventh edition of the YEA at the Sokoto State University (SSU), Sokoto.

The lender, on Wednesday explained that apart from the typical training on tailoring and make-up, participants will also be provided with the requisite skills and first-hand knowledge in Fashion Designing, Cloth Embellishment, Cocktail and Phone Engineering among others.

According to the bank, over 200 undergraduates of Sokoto State University (SSU) will benefit from this programme. So, why does the bank invest in young people? When the Fidelity Bank says, “turn your passion into a paycheque”, that’s a message of empowerment.

As a bank, it recognises that the youth look at the world with fresh eyes and such lively determination, and create much-needed change by throwing convention out the window.

That’s why the bank, through its laudable interventions continues to develop innovative programmes that unleash the creative energies of Nigerian youths which in turn represents formidable new frontiers for sustainable national development says Fidelity Bank MD, Nnamdi Okonkwo.

YEA is a skills acquisition, training and productivity improvement scheme targeted at youths, especially undergraduates in Nigeria’s higher institutions.

This empowerment programme, which is part of the Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives, is primarily targeted at creating a new breed of entrepreneurs amongst Nigeria’s boisterous youth population.

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Over 3,000 students have benefited from YEA programs at University of Nigeria, Nsukka; Waziri Umar Federal Polytechnic, Birnin-Kebbi; Federal Polytechnic Oko, Anambra State; Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt; Bayero University, Kano and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka.

Some beneficiaries who have since started their own businesses were recognised at the event. Fidelity Bank has also provided students with high-quality sewing machines, pressing irons and make-up kits to make sure that undergraduates utilise the skills and experiences garnered at the youth empowerment workshop to improve their lives before and after graduation.