As part of its ongoing commitment to promoting knowledge and technology transfer between Europe and Africa, AREA led the GreenVETAfrica Erasmus+ project, funded by the European Union, in collaboration with Asociación Mundus and partners from Ghana, CNOS-FAP Federation, Presbyterian Relief Services and Development, Whizzy Academy, as well as Nigeria’s Pan Atlantic University, IIT, Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA).
During the Nigerian students’ graduation ceremony, which took place in Lagos on 14 November 2024, Adriano Mauro, the Managing Director of AREA, emphasised that the programme aims to create green job opportunities by transforming waste into wealth for unemployed youth in Nigeria and Ghana.
In preparation for the graduation ceremony, the partners of the GreenVETAfrica project met to assess the project’s impact and discuss exploitation pathways. AREA highlighted that successful collaboration with various VET institutions and stakeholders in the waste management industry has been crucial to the project’s success. Moreover, AREA will promote the dissemination of the training materials through the Smart Step e-Learning Platform, which already offers capacity-building educational materials around three career paths: smart logistics, entrepreneurship, and waste management.
The event had relevant stakeholders like Mrs Yetunde Kalesanwo Oluwakemi, Director of the Lagos State Mass Education Agency, Ms. Tari Taylaur, Senior Special Assistant on Environment to the Lagos state Governor to reinforce how impactful the training is, and the possibilities to collaborate on projects like this in the future and Dr. Adewuni Stephen Oladapo, National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) southeast zonal coordinator who took the participants through the accreditation process of the curriculum.
AREA’s commitment to capacity building and knowledge transfer across Africa will continue with the kick-off of CircuWasteVETAfrica, a new ERASMUS+ project on waste management and circular economy which will involve Sao Tome, Namibia, Angola, and Ghana in January 2025.
