Ajegunle.org, a Paradigm Initiative Nigeria project, is a model that we have designed to create better livelihoods through ICT opportunities, entrepreneurship training and short-term internships for young people in Nigerias underserved areas. The project website is www.ajegunle.org and we are glad to have been able to commence pre-project work on other areas. We also invite you to view the project video (as captured by Nigeria International and screened in various countries) on CNNs iReport at www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-14359. Famous, like many other young people in Nigeria’s most popular slum, was not sure of what tomorrow held for him. Now, he works at the Visa Section of the British High Commission in Abuja thanks to his participation in the Ajegunle.org project. Funke, another project participant, grew her business of N2,000 by over 2,000% after the training. The project is also helping to change the perception of the Ajegunle community, as shown through the inclusion of the projects details on the popular Wikipedia website or search results through internet search engines.
We are working towards the replication of the idea beyond Ajegunle, and are also keen on establishing the Ajegunle Innovation Centre (AJIC). The AJIC will serve as a knowledge hub where more youth from the community can be empowered for the world of work. It will serve the purposes of training, incubation and service provision:
(a) Training: Providing a space for the Ajegunle.org training program and a centre for the advancement of workplace preparedness for Ajegunle’s youth;
(b) Incubation: We will provide workspaces for the entrepreneurs that we train so that they can overcome the infrastructure barrier and have a place where they can walk into and work to provide their services towards income generation and wealth creation. The incubator will be designed to encourage productivity within a specified period of time;
(c) Services: The centre will also be a place where community members can get services such as photocopy, fax, etc, as a form of income generation strategy to sustain the centre. The centre will be served by our graduates so they can also benefit from immediate employment opportunities while they in turn provide the centre with low-cost manpower. Our ultimate goal is for the centre to become a major outsourcing hotspot in Africa!
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