Daikin Launches Second Training Centre in Nigeria to Boost Skilled Workforce

Uchechukwu Nnaike

Daikin Middle East and Africa FZE, one of the leading manufacturers of air conditioning, heating, ventilation, and refrigeration solutions, has announced the opening of its second training centre in Nigeria, in partnership with Field of Skills and Dream VTE in Agege, Lagos.
Field of Skills and Dream (FSD) is a vocational, technical, and entrepreneurship training institute that will facilitate the training of new technicians including theoretical and practical exercises across topics such as system installation, troubleshooting, maintenance, and energy efficiency. As a part of Daikin’s localization strategy, the training centre aims to build a community of skilled workforce and equip them with all the necessary education required to excel in their career and contribute to Africa’s climate efforts by promoting sustainable cooling solutions.
The company said Africa is a key market, and Nigeria is going through a rapid transformation. With the increase in climate change, it said the demand for air conditioners is on the rise even in Nigeria. “This demand comes at the price of its impact on the environment, hence the realisation of promoting sustainable cooling practices can be met faster by educating the local market and its users.”
The newly established centre is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and training equipment, allowing the technicians to gain hands-on experience with Daikin’s cutting-edge HVAC solutions.
According to the Vice-President at Daikin Middle East and Africa (MEA), Tuna Gulenc, “Daikin is committed to serving the local market where it operates. This second training and development centre in partnership with Field of Skills and Dream in Nigeria will be an extension of Daikin’s expertise and know-how to further build the skills and knowledge in the market and promote best practices of sustainable cooling – an active contribution to the socio-economic development of Nigeria.”
He added: “We are proud to collaborate with FSD which comes with a proven track record of training technicians and positively contributing to the betterment of the Nigeria society for development and growth.”
The Director at Field of Skills and Dream, Omowale Ogunrinde said, “the intervention of Daikin to upgrade FSD’s TVET skills development workshop for HVAC technicians could not have come at a better time than when we were expanding our training facilities to enable us to empower more young Nigerians with skills to access new jobs and start small businesses of their own. FSD has always said that there are jobs but no skilled people because we have a 100% employment rate for our trainees. With the provision of modern and state-of-the-art HVAC training equipment by Daikin and upskilling the trainers at FSD, our goal of producing more technicians equipped with the requisite skills to deploy professional services in global cooling technology would be met across Nigeria.”
Daikin is striving hard for the people of Africa to provide access to better air quality and energy efficiency, while simultaneously strengthening service and aftermarket support. With a strong localization strategy, Daikin’s focus is on sustainability, energy efficiency, Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), driving more awareness towards a healthy living environment, and introducing new inverter R32 product solutions.
Daikin MEA opened its first training centre and first sales office in Lagos, Nigeria in 2020.