Yesterday, Techcabal attended the official launch of the permanent installation of the General Electric (GE) Lagos Garage at the 2nd floor of the GE Lagos Office, Mansard Place in Victoria island Lagos. The first set of the GE Lagos Garage participants who will be receiving a four-week training on advanced manufacturing and entrepreneurship were also inaugurated at the event.
The garage will be GE’s permanent hub for manufacturing-based innovation, strategy development, idea generation and collaboration. The Lagos Garage will offer a year-round series of skills training programs focused on building the next generation of Nigerian entrepreneurs.
Speaking at the launch, President & CEO, GE Nigeria, Lazarus Angbazo, said “Innovation and technology are fundamental for Africa to better compete in a global framework. Innovation needs to be tailored to the specificities of local needs. GE is pleased to encourage innovation in Nigeria and support SME development through skills-building initiatives such as these.”
The event began with a welcome address by the Head, communications/public affairs, GE West Africa, Segun Obagbemi. The welcome address was followed by opening remarks by the President & CEO, GE Africa, Jay Ireland. The special guest of honor, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Wealth Creation & Employment representing the Commissioner, Abdul Ahmed Mustapha, then gave his address.
A panel chaired by the President & CEO, GE Nigeria, Lazarus Angbazo, discussed the impact of skills development on the growth of the Nigerian economy.
The garage was declared open after the panel discussion.
There was music, food, and drinks, whilst a showcase of the latest tech innovations that are transforming the manufacturing industry was explored by attendees. Some of them include a VR experience of GE’s next generation oil and gas technology, several 3D printouts of prototypes, laser cutting technology, and CNC mills.
The closing address was given by Patricia Obozuwa, Director, Communications/Public Affairs, GE Africa, where she said, “GE is proud to launch the Lagos Garage, a hub that is dedicated to accelerating the impact of some of Nigeria’s most promising entrepreneurs. We have set up a learning environment that is different from the traditional. We are combining both the classroom and the real-world – providing hands-on training in advanced manufacturing”
Earlier this month, General Electric (GE) relaunched its skills training program, GE Lagos Garage and called for applicants to its GE Lagos Garage program. They released a list of finalists a few weeks later. The program which began on November 14, will last for weeks and end on December 9, 2016.
Upon graduation, the participants of the program will be provided with access to a robust mentorship network, supporting entrepreneurship with the aim of driving growth across all sectors of the Nigerian economy.
