The Government-backed 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme has received a significant boost with a N1 billion grant from Airtel Africa Foundation.
This was announced by the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, who expressed his gratitude to Airtel Africa Foundation for collaborating with the government to position Nigeria as a key player in the global technology landscape.
The grant will cover hands-on training, community engagement, and job placement for participants, which are core aspects of the 3MTT project.
This project is part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” vision, aiming to build young Nigerians with future-proof skills and inject new energy into the country’s digital workforce. The programme seeks to train and empower over 25,000 Nigerians with in-demand technical skills.
This development is a result of a meeting between Airtel Africa’s top executives, Chairman Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal and CEO Sunil Taldar, and President Tinubu in February.
During this meeting, Airtel Africa committed to supporting digital training for 25,000 young Nigerians across 80 local government areas under the 3MTT initiative. They also launched the Airtel Africa Fellowship, awarding 10 fully-funded scholarships for tech-focused degrees at Plaksha University, India.
Airtel Africa has been expanding its footprint in Nigeria’s digital and telecoms space, scaling financial inclusion through SmartCash PSB and onboarding over 600,000 students and 1,260 schools via the Airtel-UNICEF “Reimagine Education” initiative. Their support for the 3MTT programme strengthens their commitment to Nigeria’s future.
With unemployment still high and tech talent in global demand, this investment could become a turning point for Nigeria. Although there are still challenges to overcome, such as infrastructure, internet access, curriculum design, and job placement logistics, the energy behind the effort is gaining momentum.
The stakeholders are starting to align, including the government, telcos, and global institutions. If Nigeria can keep this going, it may mark the beginning of a true digital transformation.
