“An efficient way to empower Mozambican youth”

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“An efficient way to empower Mozambican youth”

6:28 CAT | 24 Feb 2022

Mozparks team and the partners of the Mimi Niko Kazi Programme.

This morning MozParks praised the latest graduates of the Mimi Niko Kazi Youth Employment Programme at a ceremony that took place at the MozParks Beluluane Industrial Park in Boane. 70 graduates participated in person. The event was officiated by the Governor of the Maputo Province, Júlio José Parruque. Among the guests were the representatives of the companies that hosted internships, and international donors that sponsored the programme including the Employment 4 Development, Germany, Switzerland and Ireland.

MozParks created the Youth Employment Programme in August 2018 and renamed it as Mimi Niko Kazi (MNK Programme) in March 2021. Mimi Niko Kazi means “I am at work” in Swahili and represents the core essence of the project which is to give young women and men in Mozambique an opportunity to get their first professional experience and launch their careers.

Although seeing the development and operating large industrial parks, agro-parks, free-trade zones and special economic zones in Mozambique as its priority business, MozParks is very proud of the MNK Programme that provides support to young professional talents, giving them practical employability skills and broadening their career perspectives during the 6 month long internship. This programme facilitates a successful transition from education to work by matching young qualified talents with the employer demand.

MozParks not only administers the MNK Programme but also hosts internships. So do its partners, 100 companies in 7 provinces of Mozambique and Maputo city, who provide training placements for the MNK Programme beneficiaries. Petromoc, one of those companies, revealed the challenges it faced during the Covid pandemic, which it successfully overcame in order to keep the trainees at work.

Based on the success of the programme so far, Germany has recently decided to increase their support for the Mimi Niko Kazi programme, by sponsoring 50 more interns, whose internships will be in so-called “green sectors”, that support solutions to climate change and other environmental challenges.

Currently 31% of all internships take place outside of Maputo City and Maputo Province. Since March 2021 MozParks has placed over 300 young people, 45% of them are women. More than 50% of the interns find permanent employment after the end of their internship.

The governor of the Maputo province mentioned in his speech that “we all have a social responsibility to increase employability of young people”.

“This programme is an efficient way to empower Mozambican youth and equip them with the skills they can apply at work and share with their peers,”- said Adrian Frey, the MozParks Chairman of the Board. “This highly effective scheme is a fast and productive response to youth unemployment. You are invited to join us on this honourable journey,”- he added.