Empowering Kinshasa’s Workforce

Challenge

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the youth unemployment rate is extremely high, social rehabilitation and employment support through vocational training is an urgent issue. The INPP Kinshasa School, a subsidiary of the National Vocational Training Organization (INPP), is the only one of the eleven INPP training schools in the country that has a wide range of departments and accepts a large number of trainees. However, a lack of equipment, and aging facilities and staff, were limiting the school’s capacity to accommodate new students and teach the technologies required by industry today.

Under these circumstances, the DR Congo requested international assistance in 2009. In response to that request, JICA made grant funding available to provide badly needed upgrades to the facilities and equipment at the INPP Kinshasa School.

OC Global provided project management, facility planning, and design and construction supervision work through a joint enterprise with the Overseas Vocational Training Association.

New administration and training buildings were built with classrooms and laboratories for teaching electronics, computers, refrigeration, air conditioning, and more. The project also helped to provide equipment and training materials for new and existing departments.

Results

Construction on the project was completed in November 2014 when the staging area was cleared and integrated into a new courtyard promoting pedestrian traffic. A new INPP Kinshasa school was born. On Saturday, 21 February 2015 an opening ceremony was held for the school, with President of the Congo Joseph Kabila and the Japanese Ambassador to the Congo in attendance.

The improvements made to the INPP Kinshasa school — the result of effective international cooperation — will provide high-quality vocational training that will reduce unemployment and help meet the needs of the country’s industry for many years to come.