Hyundai to set up technical training centres in Africa

Hyundai in collaboration with Korean International Cooperation Agency and PLAN Korea (an international child-centered community development organisation) has decided to launch a project to help unemployed youth in several under-developed African nations eke out a living. 

The company plans to set up technical training centres, which will serve as automobile repair centres, across several African nations. The first such facility to be called Hyundai-KOICA Dream Centre will be set up in Koforidua, Ghana, in September 2012. The centre will impart crucial skills to uneducated youth with which they can seek employment. 

The training school will run a three-year programme for about 300 students. Hyundai will bear all expenses related to establishing the facility, developing the course curriculum and paying teachers’ salaries. 

The project’s support programs and goals are:

1. Setting up a technical training center and supporting equipment for automobile repair training.

2. Recruiting and educating students to be auto mechanics.

3. Enhancing the skills of existing auto mechanics.

4. Creating skilled and literate mechanics.

5. Enabling self-reliant poverty reduction through youth empowerment.

6. Strengthening Hyundai/Korean and Ghanaian technical and cultural cooperation through Hyundai’s social contribution expertise.

Mass unemployment in under-developed African nations is largely due to the lack of relevant vocational skills among the uneducated. The problem is compounded by the fact there aren’t enough job opportunities for people to pursue education. Hyundai plans to employ only graduates with good school records. The company hopes this will encourage the youth in under developed areas such as Ghana to pursue their education seriously. 

Statistics available from the Ghana Statistics Service 2006 Report indicate that about 2,50,000 young people enter the labour market annually. They range from university graduates to junior high dropouts. Only 2 percent, or fewer than 5,000 Ghanaian youth, secure traditional employment. The rest are left to unemployment or unstable employment.