Honeywell Group partners Lagos Innovate to upskill young entrepreneurs

Honeywell Group (HGL), an investment holding company, has partnered with the Lagos state government to support the growth of one of Africa’s most exciting tech ecosystems.

Lagos Innovates is the tech arm of Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF).

In a statement on Wednesday, HGL said the partnership will be executed via a talent development programme under ‘Lagos Innovates’ — a training project conceptualised to ease the process of building a thriving tech start-up in the state.

The initiative aims at providing tools to enable young techpreneurs to build successful start-ups within the state and has received support from HGL for over three years running. One of the programme’s core objectives is to assist youths in Lagos State who have the requisite requirements to acquire the relevant skills required to compete in today’s global marketplace.

Commenting on the partnership, Tomi Otudeko, head of corporate services, Honeywell Group, said: “Creating long-term value for Nigeria and its people has always been at the heart of Honeywell Group’s mission.

“We are invested in impacting our communities, and the tech ecosystem in Lagos is filled with ideas that can revolutionise how we think and operate as a society. We also understand that these young minds need support in accessing the tools and the people required to grow their ideas. It is our duty to support them in any way that we can.

“We are excited to meet these new faces of technology and to partner with Lagos State and Lagos Innovates in easing the path to success.”

Also commenting on the programme, Teju Abisoye, executive secretary of LSETF, said, “We are delighted to partner with Honeywell Group to develop a talent pool of tech entrepreneurs who can compete favourably with their peers across the world and improve results in the tech ecosystem.

“LSETF and Honeywell Group are committed to ensuring that young people are equipped to drive the growing tech ecosystem in Lagos and Nigeria at large, in addition to positioning themselves for the gig economy. Through this partnership, we hope to cement Lagos’ position as the leading destination for start-ups in Africa. We look forward to seeing the impact of the training on job creation.”

The company added that the talent development programme would help increase the investment attraction and ultimately, survival rates of Lagos-based start-ups.

“In partnership with HGL, Lagos Innovates is supporting capacity development in Lagos State by facilitating access to an integrated development environment (IDE) or techfocused entrepreneurship content and programming,” it said.

“The training, which will span over 24 weeks, will involve courses on full-stack development with JavaScript (React JS, NodeJs, Express and MongoDB + API Development); full-stack development for mobile applications (React Native, API Development); Python Programming for web and data science (PYTHON OOP, DJANGO & Data Science); frontend design and engineering: (UI/UX, HTML, CSS, ES6 & React JS); full-stack web development, and others.”

REQUIREMENTS

• Applicants must be Lagos state residents (with LASRRA) between the ages of 22 and 45
• Completed NYSC as at the time of application.

Following the successful completion of two training sessions under the programme, the third is slated to begin in July 2022, and applications are open to all individuals based in Lagos.

Interested applicants can apply and select the courses and training partners at www.lagosinnovates.ng.

Training partners for the programme include Skill Paddy, The Nest, DesignU, GOMYCODE, Seed Builders Innovation Hub, Slate Cube, Softwork Freelance Network, Univelcity, Dataleum and Torilo Academy.

HGL said successful applicants will be announced in July after a two-week screening and selection process by the programme’s steering committee.

In line with one of its critical objectives to help grow the next generation of pioneering African companies, Honeywell Group said it has invested in the initiative for over three years and has a long-standing partnership with LSETF.