Africa-Press – Eswatini. As part of its broader mandate under MNWAP, the State owned Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise(EWADE) is working closely with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security’s Directorate of Industrial Vocational Training (DIVT), with financial support from the African Development Bank(AfDB) in capacitating and/or training young people.
Speaking this week, EWADE Corporate Communications Manager Nokwazi Hlophe said, the collaboration between the State entities resulted to about fifty(50) Diploma holders in construction related fields placed under an apprenticeship programme at the Dam construction site.
The graduates are undergoing practical training under the guidance of seasoned local and expatriate engineers.
The Communication Manager said, EWADE seconded eight(8) graduate engineers to the Mpakeni Dam site, giving them valuable hands-on exposure to a world-class Dam construction project engineered by Sakhalive Joint Venture, a consortium formed by two Chinese construction heavyweights, Yellow River and Sinohydro.
“This pipeline of local talent not only strengthens national expertise but ensures that the project’s impact extends far beyond infrastructure, into long-term human capital development. This collaboration ensures that Eswatini develops a new generation of technically skilled professionals who can take up opportunities in construction and related sectors,” she said.
On another note, the Ministry of Education and Training’s ISJ-MNWAP Project Coordinator Mcolisi Stan Maphosa said, the project and its initiatives, officially known as the Integrating Skills and Jobs in MNWAP Programme, was designed to address the challenge of unemployed TVET graduates who lack practical experience.
“These (50) fifty apprenticeship graduates, most of them young women, will be working under Sakhalive Joint Venture for two years. At the end, they will be awarded an Apprenticeship Certificate by the DIVT, which is now a requirement for employability in many industries,” he said.
But over and above the apprenticeship programme, one hundred (100) youths are receiving training at the Lulakeni Regional Education Centre and the Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Centre (NASTC).
It has been confirmed that, sixty(60) are enrolled at Lulakeni and forty(40) at NASTIC, learning trades such as plumbing, pipe fitting, automotive mechanics, and agricultural value chains including post-harvest handling. This training is strategically aligned with the job opportunities expected to arise from MNWAP’s farming enterprises, eco-city, and agro-processing zone.
“The integration of skills and jobs in MNWAP is not only enhancing employability for Eswatini’s youth but also providing income-generation pathways, particularly for young women in the Shiselweni Region and beyond,” said the Ministry of Education and Training’s ISJ-MNWAP Project Coordinator.
On another note, EWADE Communications Manager Nokwazi Hlophe said, regarding job creation, Sakhalive JV has employed eight hundred and fifty(850) people in the construction of the Dam, with ninety-two percent(92%) or 779 of the workforce comprising local residents. Hlophe said, the employment opportunities does not only provide a significant source of income for households in the surrounding communities but, also contributes to skills development and long-term socio-economic empowerment.
The Communications Manager said at its core, the Mkhondvo Ngwavuma Water Augmentation Project(MNWAP) eSwatini’s bold answer to the intertwined challenges of rural poverty, erratic rainfall, food insecurity, and economic exclusion.
Envisioned to directly benefit over one hundred thousand(100,000) people in the country’s most drought-prone region, MNWAP is gradually taking shape as a multi-phase infrastructure buildout anchored by the construction of the Mpakeni Dam in the Shiselweni Region.
“EWADE’s leadership in driving this initiative demonstrates its commitment to ensuring that the MNWAP does more than deliver water and agricultural infrastructure.It is laying the foundation for a technically skilled workforce that will serve the country for generations to come”, said the EWADE Communications Manager.
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