Reducing Unemployment with ICT Skills

The Google Hustle Academy, which has trained and graduated 10,300 Small and Medium Enterprises across Africa since 2022 in Information and Communication Technology skills, is creating jobs and reducing the high rate of unemployment across Africa, writes Emma Okonji

Since 2022 that the Google Hustle Academy programme was launched in Africa, 10,300 SMEs have graduated from the programme, among which, 4,400 graduated from Nigeria.

Last week in Abuja, the Google Hustle Academy graduated and celebrated 5,300 Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) across Africa who participated in the academy training in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. 

Among the 5,300 beneficiaries across the four African countries, over 2,000 beneficiaries graduated from Nigeria and 15 of them got the N75 million Google’s Hustle Academy SMB fund set aside for the Nigerian market. The fund is to further empower the SMBs, apart from the ICT training, which they received to enhance their businesses.

Pleased with the Google initiative to train and equip Nigerians and Africans in Information and Communications Technology, the Director General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii, who was present at the graduation ceremony in Abuja, promised to engage the over 2,000 Nigerian beneficiaries by licensing them as Business Development Service Providers that would work with SMEDAN to onboard SMBs across Nigeria. 

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President of Nigeria on Job Creation, Mr. Tola Adekunle-Johnson, who was also present at the graduation ceremony, also promised to offer direct employment to one of the beneficiaries for a period of one year. 

The Role of SMBs

Speaking about the role of SMBs during his opening speech at the graduation ceremony, Country Director for Google West Africa, Mr. Olumide Balogun, said: “SMBs are the livewire of any nation and African SMBs are resilient to do anything they set their hands upon to do.”

He however said rising inflation and high cost of living have adversely affected the sustainability of SMBs across Africa and to a large degree in Nigeria, adding that the Google Hustle Academy will allow SMBS to acquire the right ICT skills that will help them grow their business and also have access to financing and mentorship.

He cited the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which estimated that there are 44 million SMBs in sub-Saharan Africa, and half of them require more finance to grow their business.

Balogun therefore said digital scaling and access to ICT tools have a significant role to play in the growth of small business, insisting that without the required ICT skills, SMBs may not likely succeed, even when they have access to financing.

“To boost access to both training and financing, Google announced the Google Hustle Academy funds of N75 million for the Nigerian SMBs and 15 SMBs from Nigeria won it this year, through pitching of their ideas and solutions before selected panel of judges. Each of the 15 SMBs will in addition, get mentorship and access to Google tools. SMBs are critical to the growth of the Nigerian economy and 96 per cent of businesses in Nigeria are SMBs and they employ more than 80 per cent of the workforce, which is the reason why Google is supporting them through the Google Hustle Academy initiative. The Hustle Academy is a testament to what focused training and resources can achieve. We are not just celebrating the graduating students, we are also recognising their potential to reshape and invigorate the Nigerian business landscape,” Balogun said.    

ICT Skills

Addressing the importance of ICT skills training for small business owners across Africa, the lead trainer at Google Hustle Academy, Mr. Gori Yahaya said the training offered at the Google Hustle Academy would further expose the SMBs to new and better ways of doing business, using emerging technology tools. According to him, SMBs that registered for the Google Hustle Academy have the zeal to learn new skills in ICT and they are committed to learning.  Our role as trainers is to impart knowledge about new trends in ICT skills on the trainees and to help them break the barriers that have prevented them from succeeding in their businesses. We give them the technology and the tools that will enable them grow their businesses in a much faster way, while they still sustain their business. Aside the ICT knowledge skills that we offer in the Academy, we also teach them how to pitch their businesses before any given audiences.

Speaking about the basic skills that were taught in the Google Hustle Academy, Yahaya said the students were taught digital operations, trending digital tools to grow businesses, digital analytics, digital finance, digital marketing and funds management, among others.       

Speaking about the learning traits in the two years training session covered by the Google Hustle Academy, Yahaya said the students learn better through peer-to-peer learning system that has enabled the trainees to share ideas among themselves. He further explained that successful entrepreneurs were also brought into the training class to share their business success stories with the trainees in order to encourage them and to boost their morale in achieving great things, despite challenges that they will encounter in their business journey.  

He expressed optimism that so much technology skills have been imparted on the trainees that would enable them to grow their business, create employment and wealth.

Another lead trainer at the Google Hustle Academy, Mr. Felix Ogbuji, said there were established metrics through which they measured performances of the trainees and expressed satisfaction about the zeal of the trainees to learn new things and their resilience to overcome challenges all through the training process. “During the training, which was virtual, we took them through strategy stage to the foundation building stage about businesses. One of the key trainings that we gave them was about business financing, which is key, because the inability of business owners to manage their business financially, has led to the collapse of several small businesses.  Most of them find it difficult to separate personal finance from business finance and this was well taught throughout the training,” Ogbuji said.   

Beneficiaries’ Experience

Founder of Wauley Projects Limited, Femi Bolaji, from Nigeria, and one of the 15 fund recipients, said: “The Hustle Academy has equipped us with vital business knowledge, and being selected for the fund is a significant boost that will propel our business forward.”

Founder, Segun Funmi Foods Nigeria Limited and Segun Funmi Cancer Support Foundation, Mrs. Funmilola Agbayewa, said the training exposed her to new ICT tools like Google Business Tools, which she said, would help her to further grow her business with ease.

As one of the 15 beneficiaries of the N75 million funding from the Google Hustle Academy, Agbayewa said she would inject the money into her foundation and food business.

“I am an cancer survivor and in the process of researching on the kind of food to eat that will sustain me, I developed interest in establishing the Segun Funmi Foods Nigeria Limited and Segun Funmi Cancer Support Foundation, and today I am happy that I am giving support to cancer patients, and helping them get the right diet that will enhance speedy recovery,” Agbayewa said.

She explained that the funding from Google Hustle Academy would help her to train more women in food business and to support more cancer patients to help them recover faster. She expressed appreciation to Google for the grant, which she said would help her employ more people to expand her business.        

The Google Hustle Academy

Speaking about the history of Google Hustle Academy and the intention to impart technology skills and create more jobs through the academy, Head, Brand and Reputation at Google sub-Saharan Africa, Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Markinde, said the Google Hustle Academy started in February 2022, when the first training cohort was launched across Africa, with a pledge to train several SMBs across Africa.

“Last year, Google trained over 5,000 SMBs across Africa, with 2,500 from Nigeria. This year, we have also trained over 5,000 SMBs, with over 2,000 from Nigeria. Since inception, we have trained over 10,300 SMB owners across Africa,” Aderemi-Markinde said.

Speaking about the criteria for graduating students from the Google Hustle Academy, Aderemi-Markinde said the students must complete some set of training modules, attend classes, and showed reasonable class participation during the training.

The goal of the academy is to help SMBs across Africa to embrace digital transformation and to grow their business and the Google team is happy because the goal of the academy is paying off, with clear impact on the beneficiaries.  

Speaking on the criteria for admitting trainees into the Google Hustle Academy, Aderemi-Markinde said the criteria for admission stipulated that all trainees must own a business that is operational for at least two years, they must also have a registered business that is verifiable and there is no age barrier and gender quality to gaining admission into the academy. 

Addressing the criteria for selecting the 15 beneficiaries of Google Hustle Academy fund, Aderemi-Markinde said it was advertised to only those that have been enrolled for the Google Hustle Academy training, and they were made to apply and pitch their ideas and solutions to experienced judges who selected the best 15 SMBs that pitched their ideas.    

According to her, Google will follow up on the 15 Nigerian beneficiaries to ensure that the N75 million SMB fund is well utilised to grow and sustain their businesses.

Government Support

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President of Nigeria on Job Creation, Mr. Tola Adekunle-Johnson, expressed government’s pleasure over the Google Hustle Academy, which he said, would create jobs and transfer of technology skills to many more Nigerians, since each of the 2,000 beneficiaries that graduated from Nigeria would employ people that will work for them in expanding their business. According to him, if the 2,000 beneficiaries employ two employees each, that will amount to creating 4,000 jobs, which is massive.

He said Vice President Kashim Shettima was already in the process of inaugurating a council that would drive job creation in Nigeria. He assured Google of government’s support for its initiatives that are driving job creation across the country.

“Google is a private organisation but it is creating jobs for Nigerians. Government is therefore ready to support Google to create more jobs for Nigerians. If Google is seeking ay assistance from government, the government will be willing to assist. Government has since realised that youth unrest is largely caused by unemployment and government is appreciative of Google Hustle Academy for bridging the unemployment gap.

“Since I am SSA to Vice President Shettima on Job Creation, I am going to offer a direct job to one of the graduating students for a period of one year. The lucky person will start December 1, 2023 and I challenge the Director General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), to go beyond what I have done in the area of job creation,” Adekunle-Johnson said.          

The Director General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii, in his keynote speech, reemphasised the importance of SMEs in job creation and economic development. According to him, SMEs in Nigeria are contributing 50 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP growth, but our manufacturing output is still low and export is also low and it is a challenge to the Nigerian economy. He therefore encouraged the graduating students to put in more of their energy in their SMB business, which according to him, is the backbone of the Nigerian economy.

Googles’ Passion

Speaking about Google’s passion for developing ICT skills and for creating job opportunities for Nigerians, Google’s Country Director for West Africa, Olumide Balogun, said Google remained highly intentional in imparting ICT knowledge and in supporting startups to grow their business. “We are very passionate about that and we will continue give such support. Last week, Google was in Kaduna to train content creators and we encourage other private sector businesses to be intentional also in imparting the society with emerging ICT skills. To grow the Nigerian economy, we must first support SME growth because the SMEs are the lifeblood of any economy,” Balogun said.

Addressing the issue of sustainability of the Google Hustle Academy, Balogun explained that Google would continue to support SMBs across Africa, including Nigeria in order to grow the African economy, adding that Google is willing to partner with Nigerian government to support the economic growth of Nigeria and the other African countries. “There is an improvement in everything that we do at Google. When we launched the Google Hustle Academy last year, we did not introduce funding but this year, we introduced access to funding, where 15 Nigerian SMEs got N75 million to support their businesses,” Balogun said.