Africa-Press – Tanzania. DODOMA: Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has pledged continued support to develop high-quality human resources in Tanzania, through various programmes it is implementing in the country.
The KOICA Country Director, Manshik Shin made the pledge at the Seed Grant Award Ceremony for Entrepreneurship Challenge Cycle of the Youth Employment and Skills for Development in Tanzania (E4DT) to 40 projects from Vocational Education and Education Authority (VETA) Dodoma, Lindi and Manyara Regions.
The Korean government via KOICA in partnership with Tanzania through VETA is implementing the E4DT project which aims to provide sponsored broader market-oriented entrepreneurship training opportunities to Tanzanian youths in efforts to strengthen human resources in the country.
According to Mr Shin, for the last decades KOICA has supported development projects in priority sectors of cooperation for Tanzania including health, education and rural development.
“KOICA is the main arm for delivering Official Development Assistance (ODA) on behalf of the government of the Republic of Korea. The bilateral aid and the annual average of KOICA support to Tanzania is about 17 million US dollars,” he said.
The Youth Employment and Skills for Development in Tanzania (E4DT) project plays a pivotal role in creating opportunities for young Tanzanians, nurturing their skills and contributing to the economic development of Tanzania.
The E4DT Project is supporting VETA to develop and deliver short-term (4 months) training to 4,000 youths in plumbing (domestic and industrial), welding (domestic and industrial) and employability skills (both salaried and self-employment) in Dodoma, Lindi and Manyara Regional Vocational Training and Service Centres (RVTSCs).
The project is implemented in partnership between KOICA (as project sponsors), GiZ (implementing agency), GOPA (responsible for curriculum and training materials development, procurement and training of trainers in the technical fields) and a partner for the entrepreneurship component.
In September 2022, following a successful bid, KOICA contracted a consortium led by the Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development (IMED) which includes the Institute of Finance Management (IFM) and Tanzania Growth Trust (TGT) as the partner to implement the entrepreneurship component.
Speaking at the event which was officiated by Bahi District Commissioner, Godwin Gondwe and attended by VETA Director General, Mr Anthony Kasore, IMED Director, Swabiri Khalid said that during the first phase, the programme provided seed grant to 40 entrepreneurship projects amounting to 50,000 US Dollars (about 122,5m/-).
“Within this comprehensive project, the Entrepreneurship Component clearly demonstrates KOICA’s unwavering commitment to empowering youths and serves as a source of inspiration and opportunities for growth.
He said this entrepreneurship component encompasses training on life and business skills for 600 trainees, and organises the Seed Fund Challenge and awards seed equipment to the most promising groups with a commitment to provide a three-month incubation service.
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