The UKAID MAFITA programme supports apprenticeship for marginalised youths in northern Nigeria through nationally certified courses that combine on-the-job technical skills development with foundational skills delivery. MAFITA’s primary beneficiaries have received little formal education and the apprenticeship programme aims to show swift impact in breaking these perceived and real barriers and demonstrating the real capabilities of youths in northern Nigeria.
Master Crafts Persons (MCPs), each running informal micro and small enterprises (MSEs), teach and mentor apprentices within their business. With support from MAFITA, MCPs have recently been organised to form trade clusters in which there is greater scope for cooperation and collaboration that will ultimately result in enterprise growth.
This paper contributes to the global body of knowledge about how to develop capabilities for sustainable livelihoods in a complex, fragile and rapidly changing environment for those at the bottom of the pyramid. It explains why MAFITA’s apprenticeship model ensures that all skills are developed directly by those already involved in the local labour market, which ensures that knowledge and skills remain relevant and sustainable. As apprentices also gain classroom-based expertise in literacy, numeracy and employability such as group work and modules on good citizenship, these life skills are a critical foundation to finding sustainable employment or self-employment.
Through analysis of the theoretical basis, primary research, its ongoing uptake and throughput, as well as interviews with beneficiaries, this paper will provide early indication of the potential value of comprehensive apprenticeship programmes as a means of easing the training-to-work transition while supporting MSEs and promoting improved citizenship. While it is early in the programme, our initial findings confirms that the enthusiasm of business owners and potential beneficiaries to engage in the apprenticeship programme have exceeded expectations with MCPs noting that they have not seen comparable standards of training or performance previously.
