Ex-Nigerian American NFL Player Ekiyor Launches Pro-Youth Foundation

Emil Ekiyor, a retired American NFL subordinate of Nigerian descent, has launched the InnoPower Africa Foundation, the non-profit limb of InnoPower Indy, USA, dedicated to empowering African younker done innovation, endowment development, and occupation creation.

The instauration aims to physique an inclusive innovation ecosystem that connects young Africans to planetary opportunities done exertion and entrepreneurship.

At the unveiling ceremonial successful Lagos, Ekiyor stated that the instauration was established to tackle the issues of unemployment and underdeveloped endowment crossed Africa by equipping young radical with applicable skills for the integer economy.

“Our ngo is to democratise AI literacy and economical accidental crossed the continent, starting successful Lagos. This is not aid; this is an concern successful Africa’s integer future.

“In concern with the Nigeria Philanthropy Office, the University of Lagos’s ARUA Centre of Excellence for Unemployment and Skills Development (CoE-USD), the ECOWAS Small Business Coalition, the Nigerians successful Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), Itana (formerly Talent City), and others, we are creating a broad ecosystem wherever skills improvement meets diligent superior deployment, connecting AI-trained Nigerian entrepreneurs straight with U.S. concern networks.

“We are establishing AI literacy programmes aimed astatine grooming implicit 10,000 individuals done maestro trainer networks; processing diligent superior pipelines to transmission U.S. funds done the i-Philanthropy level of the Federal Government to vetted entrepreneurs successful Nigeria; facilitating planetary marketplace entree to make pathways to the integer economy; and forming strategical partnerships with different determination leaders successful the ecosystem,” helium explained.

Several guests astatine the launch, including Prof. Adedeji Badiru, Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Engineering and Management astatine the Air Force Institute of Technology, USA, described InnoPower Africa arsenic a timely inaugural to harness Africa’s demographic vantage and alteration it into economical strength.

According to Prof. Sunday Abayomi Adebisi, Director of the Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre astatine the University of Lagos: “This is simply a span betwixt younker imaginable and planetary opportunity. InnoPower Africa represents the benignant of bold, homegrown enactment Africa needs to signifier its future.”

The instauration besides announced plans to grow its innovation programmes to different African countries successful the coming years arsenic portion of its continental mission.