The African Development Bank (AfDB) says it is partnering with the Nigerian Government to enhance youth development in the country.

Ms Oley Dibba-Wadda, Director of Human Capital, Youth and Skills Development of the bank, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abidjan, Cote de’ Ivoire.

“We are working with the government now to organise the private sector roundtable and we will be looking at how to support youth development.

“The country requested for that and they have sent a letter to the president and so, we are looking at how we will support them.

“I was in Nigeria about two months ago, to organise a roundtable that will bring together the private sector, youths organisations, government and different stakeholders,’’ she said.

She said the roundtable was arranged in conjunction with the Federal Minister of Labour and Employment.

According to her, the idea is to look at what the issues are and how to address them.

She said the bank had started conducting studies at the macro level to see what the key issues were, to address and support them.

The Gambian national noted that the AfDB was working on establishing a centre of excellence to support youths, especially in the area of ICT and digitalisation.

“Nigeria is top on the work we are doing for youths in agriculture, ICT, industrialisation and other areas of interest,’’ she added.

Commenting on human capital development in the region, Dibba-Wadda said the bank had been providing support to the private sector to boost human capital in the region.

She said that much emphasis was on agriculture business.

The director said the target of the bank was to ensure that Africa becomes the global food basket in the next 20 years.

According to her, the bank is targeting the creation of 25 million jobs over the next 25 years.

She added that about 50 million people would be impacted.

On youth migration to the West, Dibba-Wadda said the bank focused on Nigeria, Mali, Niger and Sierra Leone to train youths on how to refocus their mind to better things that would improve their lives. (NAN)

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