Dangote Academy of Learning and Development

Objective

To create a talent pipeline for the Dangote Group and strengthen and develop the nation’s industrial sector through that pipeline.

Overview and Main Activities

The Dangote Academy aims to building technical skills among Nigerian youth. Dangote partners with the Industrial Training Fund (ITF), which was established by the federal government. The Academy focuses on four core skills areas: mechanical, electrical, instrumentation/automation and chemical engineering.

The Academy has four strategic objectives:

1. Act as an umbrella organization that drives all talent development initiatives and activities of the Group.
2. Provide a platform for tangible skills acquisition, benchmarked to world standards. Technical training standards are modelled on the German Dual Vocational Educational and Training System (DVET). Here, students work and train on the job followed by two days every week at the technical school where basic principles and theories are reinforced.
3. Provide unique opportunities to polytechnic graduates, graduate engineers and management trainees of the institutions in the country to acquire sound industry and management skills.
4. Create programmes to address leadership talent development.

To help participants acquire industry and management skills, the Academy leverages four platforms:

1. Vocational Trainee Scheme: 12 months of training, with skilled artisans and operatives, on workshop skills and in-plant training in the factory.
2. Graduate Engineer Trainee Scheme (GETS): Focuses on people with degrees in mechanical engineering, electrical/electronic engineering and chemical engineering. Runs for 12 months and includes workshop skills and in-plant training.
3. Management Trainee Scheme: Originally an entry point for Management Graduates from premier business school like Lagos Business School (LBS), this has been substituted with Junior Technical Skills under which secondary school students at technical schools/colleges have 18 months of training at the Academy in basic engineering, followed by intensive technical skills training in the training workshop under trained instructors. This is followed by in-plant training at the Academy factory under engineer and manager supervision.
4. Dangote Graduate Drivers Academy: Designed to improve the quality of transport fleet drivers in terms of safe and defensive training, highway management standards and Safety Health Environment (SHE), reducing accident rates and improving driver attitude and aptitude on managing company products.

Success Factors and Challenges

Most critical success factors:

• Support from and sponsorship by the CEO, who is also the head of the National Job Creation Committee and Chairman of the National Technical and Vocational Committee
• Aligned training with organization’s skill requirements and needs
• Designing programmes to train young technical graduates in the skills and competencies relevant to business needs
• Main challenges:

Partner support (external support/partnership)

• Lack of training culture and infrastructure
• Getting managers to align themselves in support of the initiative
• Developing local young graduates from technical schools and colleges to fill-in the skills gap in Nigeria

Recommendations for Others

For similar initiatives to be successful, top management has to be committed, both strategically and financially. In addition, creativity, focus and passion of the implementing team, together with appropriate selection of technical partners, is the key.

Replicability and Scalability

How easily could other organizations implement this initiative?
Difficult: These initiatives require large amounts of financial and human resources to plan, organize and deliver on the objectives.

How easily can this initiative be expanded to include a larger number of participants?
Difficult: There is a lack of industrial culture, technical orientation and skill, inadequate infrastructure and equipment and quality of trainers locally, requiring hiring of expats to manage the process.

About the Organization

Website: www.dangote.com
Sector: Infrastructure and Urban Development
Size (number of employees): 10,000-50,000
Headquarters: Lagos, Nigeria

For Further Engagement

Contact name: Anthony Chiejina
Contact position: Group Head Corporate Communications
Email: [email protected]