By Modupe Gbadeyanka
No fewer than 28 young Nigerian entrepreneurs have graduated from the Lagos Garage of the world’s premiere digital industrial company, General Electric (GE).
The program provided participants the opportunity to directly interact with the latest manufacturing technologies, including 3D printers and laser cutters that enable innovation through rapid prototyping.
GE Lagos Garage is a hub for advanced manufacturing-based innovation, strategy development, idea generation and collaboration.
The new graduates joined the programme in the first week of June, following a rigorous selection process, and received four weeks of training on advanced manufacturing technology and business development.
Participants learnt how to design and create products which will help position them as vital players in the advanced manufacturing and innovation ecosystem.
They were also exposed to a variety of world-class instructors and technical experts who not only provided mentorship, but support on developing their business ideas.
Speaking during a media tour of the Garage in Lagos, the Director of Communications & Public Affairs at GE Africa, Patricia Obozuwa, said that the GE Lagos Garage initiative was created to build Nigerian knowledge and capability which will ultimately lead to the creation of more businesses and jobs.
Obozuwa expressed the belief that the GE Lagos Garage program will create new innovators who will lead and drive Nigeria’s manufacturing sector in the near future.
She re-emphasized GE’s commitment to skills development, saying – “We are very passionate about skills development in Nigeria and as such, are proud to have trained 95 young Nigerian entrepreneurs till date, since the launch of the Lagos Garage hub in November 2016.
“The Garage graduates have been empowered to transform their ideas into practical business models which in little time will have a positive impact on the Nigerian economy by empowering people to create jobs for themselves,” she further said.
GE created the Garages experience in March 2012 to reinvigorate America’s interest in invention, innovation, and manufacturing.
In 2014, Garages went global with its first international exhibition in Lagos, Nigeria. Given the success of the 2014 pilot program, in November 2016, GE launched the permanent installation of The Lagos Garage in alignment with the Federal Government’s focus on driving localization and job creation.
Adedapo Adesanya