By Eberechi Obinagwam
For many young Nigerians, completing an education does not automatically translate into employment. Others find themselves combining school with income-generating activities to meet their needs and support their families.
Against this backdrop, Nestlé Nigeria has developed initiatives aimed at addressing different aspects of the challenge, from technical and vocational training to small-business development and employability skills.
The initiatives offer different routes into economic activity, reflecting the growing importance of practical skills and entrepreneurship in a labour market where many young people struggle to secure opportunities.
Skills for the workplace
One of the company’s initiatives is the Nestlé Technical Training Programme, established in 2011 at its Agbara factory in Ogun State.
The programme, which is part of the global Nestlé Needs YOUth initiative launched in 2013, combines classroom instruction with practical industrial experience to prepare young Nigerians for careers in engineering and manufacturing.
According to The Guardian report of April 24, 2026, the programme had equipped 309 young Nigerians with technical and vocational skills across its centres in Agbara, Abaji and Flowergate. The report marked the programme’s 15th anniversary and the graduation of 20 trainees from the Flowergate centre.
The 18-month curriculum covers areas including engineering, food technology and manufacturing operations, culminating in the City & Guilds of London Technicians’ Certification.
Nestlé Nigeria’s Country Human Resource Manager, Shakiru Lawal, said 98 per cent of the programme’s graduates had moved into employment within the company, describing it as an important talent pipeline.
The company’s 2025 annual report separately recorded 60 graduates that year and more than 289 young Nigerians trained since the programme began. It also reported that 98 per cent of graduates had secured employment at Nestlé Nigeria.
These figures point to a connection between industry-led training and employment. However, the programme’s reported employment rate primarily reflects recruitment within Nestlé itself; it does not, on its own, establish the wider employment outcomes of all young people who need vocational training across Nigeria.
For graduates, the value of such training lies not only in obtaining a certificate but also in developing the practical competence, discipline and workplace experience required to perform in demanding industrial environments.
At the April graduation, valedictorian Samuel Oladokun said the training had strengthened his technical competence, confidence, teamwork and sense of responsibility, preparing the graduates to contribute in the workplace.
Enterprise as another route
For young people who do not enter formal employment, entrepreneurship can provide another means of earning an income.
Nestlé Professional’s My Own Business (MYOWBU) initiative supports participants who sell beverages, including NESCAFÉ and MILO, through street-vending businesses. The programme provides equipment and branded pushcarts or shoulder kits, alongside training and mentorship.
A report published by The Guardian on November 5, 2025, documented how the initiative had helped participants meet household expenses, finance education and develop their businesses.
Foluke Ojo, a student of Yaba College of Technology who sells beverages around Ikeja, said the income enabled her to pay her tuition and support her family.
“I sponsor myself in school and also take care of my mother and siblings,” she said.
For Emenike Emmanuel, who graduated in 2021 but struggled to find a job, joining MYOWBU provided an opportunity to earn a daily income and contribute to his family’s upkeep.
Another participant, Ezekiel Ritu, joined in 2010 after struggling as a small-time trader. He told The Guardian that the business had enabled him to support his family, pay his child’s school fees and buy land in his home state.
The programme has also provided a route to business expansion. Joseph Abraham, who began as a pushcart operator, progressed to running a Nestlé distribution business.
“I started as a pushcart operator. Today, I run my own Nestlé distribution business. Dreams do come true,” he said.
In June 2025, Nestlé Professional reported training more than 300 MYOWBU operators and attendants in Lagos in business management, hygiene, food safety, waste management and customer service. The company also reported that the initiative had generated more than 1,500 employment opportunities across Nigeria.
Its 2025 annual report recorded that more than 550 entrepreneurs and food vendors had received training through its Business of Food and MYOWBU programmes during the year.
While these accounts illustrate how small-scale enterprise can support livelihoods, the outcomes are not necessarily the same for every participant. Income may depend on customer demand, operating costs, location and the ability to sustain the business. More detailed information on earnings, business survival and participants’ long-term progress would help establish the initiative’s broader economic impact.
Beyond training and vending
The Technical Training Programme and MYOWBU form part of Nestlé’s wider youth-development efforts under Nestlé Needs YOUth, which seeks to improve young people’s access to economic opportunities.
The company has also supported employability and entrepreneurship training through the Alliance for Youth Nigeria, a business-led collaboration that provides young people with work-readiness training, mentoring, internship opportunities and support for enterprise development.
In its 2024 annual report, Nestlé Nigeria said the Alliance had empowered more than 350 young people that year through employability and entrepreneurial training, internships and mentoring.
Taken together, these initiatives address different needs: vocational training prepares participants for technical careers, entrepreneurship programmes create opportunities to earn through business, and employability schemes aim to improve readiness for the workplace.
Their reach and reported outcomes demonstrate how businesses can contribute to youth development. But corporate initiatives remain only one part of a much larger challenge that also requires quality education, broader job creation, access to finance and opportunities for young people to build sustainable careers and enterprises.
The experience of participants such as Ojo, Emmanuel and Abraham shows that access to training or a means of earning can make a practical difference to individuals and their families. The larger test is whether these opportunities can be sustained, expanded and made accessible to more young Nigerians.
Ultimately, youth empowerment should be measured not only by the number of people trained or enrolled in a programme, but also by whether they can secure decent work, maintain viable businesses, improve their financial security and build lasting prospects for the future.
