Why focus on Young Engineers
In recent times, the demography of young people in the Engineering profession is quite high and the Engineering discipline is multi-faceted with several fields, specializations and branches. The Engineering discipline has the largest pool of professionals with ever expanding areas of expertise.
However, there is a clear mismatch between the skills often learned in the secondary and university education systems and labour market supply needs, specifically related to employability and high-growth opportunities within the sector.
There are also clear gaps that pertain to lack of engineering youths’ self-confidence and deficit of other life skills that are necessary for young engineers to have the agency and ability to actually use the technical skills acquired in university education systems to become successful entrepreneurs.
It has been observed that many Young Engineers do not consider pursuing the endless possibilities available in the entrepreneurial sphere due to high dependency on seeking paid employment and lack of knowledge on specific business skills such as starting an MSME, business planning, marketing skills and knowledge of marketing channels, enterprise awareness etc. These business skills are typically not featured in the Engineering curriculum and Teachers and Lecturers usually have little or no experience running a business, and limited or non-existent experience within the private sector. Hence there is a gap in knowledge transference in this important area as entrepreneurial spirit is not stimulated in young persons early enough.
YEEC is poised to bridge this gap by empowering young engineers to become entrepreneurs and cater to the ample service demands arising from the various business value chains ranging from Agriculture, Agribusiness and Agri-processing, Information and Communications Technology, commercial/retail business, media & entertainment, Logistics and Transportation, Tourism and Hospitality, Education and Trainings, Power and Energy Generation etc. YEEC shall create a platform for promotion of entrepreneurship opportunities and horning entrepreneurial skills in
young engineers while equipping them to utilize their technical skills in pursuing entrepreneurial ventures.
Promoting youth entrepreneurship has the potential to contribute to social development as it offers young people an opportunity to increase their earnings through self-employment, and to create jobs for others, thereby raising their living standards and those around them, while reducing poverty and building sustainable livelihoods.
The YEEC initiative is shall create an ecosystem that fosters the emergence, structuring and professionalism of entrepreneurship for young engineers, making it a conducive option to job and wealth creation.