YTTP is launched in Addis Ababa during AU Summit

The 2024 edition of the Youth Technical Training Program (YTTP) was launched on February 17 and 18 during the 37th Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The annual event, which brought together heads of state and government from 54 African nations, as well as other guest countries such as Brazil, discussed education and financial reform on the continent. Since this year’s theme was “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa”, it was an excellent opportunity to present the YTTP during the Summit.

The president of the Brazil Africa Institute (IBRAF), João Bosco Monte, presented the 2024 edition of the YTTP to the heads of state who attended the event, including the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The agenda was one of several bilateral meetings that the Brazilian president held during his visit to Egypt and Ethiopia. Since the resumption of diplomatic relations between Brazil and Africa – both important economies in the Global South – was the main focus of Lula’s participation in the Summit, the YTTP is consolidating itself as an important South-South cooperation project. According to João Bosco Monte, during the meeting president Lula congratulated and supported the initiative of training young Africans in Brazil.

Afterwards, professor João Bosco Monte also met other African authorities, such as the vice-president of Sierra Leone, Mohamed Juldeh Jalloh, and the foreign minister of Liberia, Sara Beysolow Nyanti who showed interest in the program. “The YTTP was very well received and will certainly strengthen ties between Brazil and African countries in the development of this important action,” says professor João Bosco Monte. 

About the YTTP
The young Africans selected to take part in the training in Brazil receive knowledge, learn the usage of Brazilian equipment and technologies. Agriculture and rural development are among the main sectors, but participants are also trained in areas such as information technology, infrastructure, health, entrepreneurship and the creative industry, among others.  

Between 2024 and 2025, 1,000 young Africans will be selected to take part in the YTTP. The first group of participants should arrive in Brazil in June. The start of the program will take place at Embrapa Cassava, in Cruz das Almas, Bahia, one of IBRAF’s partner institutions.