UNDP And CISCO Partner to Advance Digital Skills And Employment Opportunities For Young Nigerians

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Cisco have formalised their partnership under the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at strengthening pathways for young Nigerians to gain future-ready digital skills and access quality employment opportunities.

The MoU signing, held at the UN House in Abuja, brought together representatives of the Federal Government, UNDP, Cisco, the European Union, development partners, NJFP Fellows and Alumni, and other stakeholders to mark an important milestone in public-private collaboration for youth employability and digital skills development in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP) is a flagship youth employability initiative of the Federal Government of Nigeria, funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The programme connects young Nigerians to skills, employment and private-sector opportunities, while supporting their transition into the workforce.

Through the partnership, Cisco has provided free access to its Networking Academy (NetAcad) platform for up to 50,000 NJFP Fellows and Alumni on a rolling basis. Facilitated through the Office of the Vice President’s Delivery Unit (OVP-DU), the collaboration brings together government, development and private-sector expertise to strengthen young Nigerians’ access to industry-relevant digital learning.
Representing the Office of the Vice President’s Delivery Unit, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Delivery and Coordination, Mr. Akubo Adegbe, highlighted the importance of partnerships that strengthen the connection between young Nigerians, skills development and employment opportunities.

He said, “This partnership also sits within the broader Renewed Hope Agenda of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, particularly its focus on expanding economic opportunity, creating jobs, strengthening human capital, and enabling Nigerians to participate productively in a changing economy. The ambition is not simply to grow the economy, but to ensure that Nigerians, especially our young people, have the skills, opportunities, and enterprise capabilities to participate in and drive that growth.”

The event also provided an opportunity to reflect on the evolution of NJFP and its growing role as a talent pipeline connecting young Nigerians to skills, employment and private-sector opportunities.
UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Elsie Attafuah, stated that the partnership builds on NJFP’s role as a platform for connecting young people’s skills and workplace experience to opportunities in a rapidly changing labour market. “Together, we can connect skills and experience to livelihoods and turn digital potential into inclusive economic opportunity,” she said.

Ms. Attafuah noted that the partnership combines Cisco’s technology expertise and industry-relevant learning pathways with UNDP’s development experience, trusted relationships and national employability platform. She further emphasised that the success of the partnership should ultimately be measured by outcomes for young Nigerians, including their ability to transition from learning into meaningful work, secure sustainable livelihoods and contribute to Nigeria’s digital economy.

The UNDP–Cisco partnership strengthens this pathway by complementing workplace experience with industry-led digital learning. Through Cisco Networking Academy, participating Fellows and Alumni can access learning opportunities in areas relevant to the changing world of work, including technology and digital skills.

The event featured experiences from NJFP Fellows and Alumni participating in Cisco’s learning programmes, highlighting how access to digital learning can support young Nigerians in building their professional capabilities and preparing for future career opportunities.
The MoU signing also reinforced the importance of continued collaboration between government, development partners and the private sector in building a future-ready workforce.

The NJFP continues to provide a platform for partnerships that can expand opportunities for young Nigerians, strengthen employer access to talent and contribute to a more inclusive and dynamic workforce ecosystem.
The UNDP–Cisco partnership represents a significant step in this direction, demonstrating how strategic collaboration can help bridge the gap between skills and opportunity, learning and employment, and talent and the needs of the future workforce.