I have proposed unlocking investment opportunities through Digital Vocational Academy (VDA) as part of the financing for development in Liberia. However, it is fair to re-emphasized that ICTs are tools; they are not ends in themselves. Following the increase in demand for new skills in the new knowledge economy, ICTs have become means to reach economic ends. Technology is a manifestation of human creativity channelled towards problem-solving. Such innovative application of modern ICTs in skill development among disadvantaged youth and women will be the driving force in fulfilling the SDGs while partnering the private sector.

1. 1
A Proposal for Vocational Digital Academy as part of the fulfilment for
Development Finance Impact Project (Development Specialist Track)–
Digital Artifact
By
Ugochukwu O. Agu
Topic: 1Financing for Development; unlocking investment opportunities
through Digital Vocational Academy (VDA)
The focusofthe courseon Financing forDevelopmentmainly hingeson opportunities
to unlock investments to support the global development agenda. Remarkably,
sustainable economicgrowth will requiresocieties to create the conditions that allow
people to have quality jobs that stimulate the economy while not harming the
environment 2 . This was re-echoed by the two videos of Jan Eliasson, Deputy
Secretary-GeneraloftheUnited Nations, which discusses thenew global development
agenda, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Susan McAdams, Senior
Advisor, Development Finance, World Bank Group, which provides an overview of
what is meant by the term “financing for development,”
What is the problem or issue that you are trying to solve?
Looking at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 8 & 9, job opportunities and
decent working conditions including empowerments in information and
communication technologies (ICTs) are also required for the whole working age
population, not discriminating against the youths and women including in financing.
Given that shortage of enough development finance and the creation of decent jobs
towards spurring economic development will remain a major challenge for almost all
economies, all hands must be on desk to finding development financing alternatives
while enacting policies that induce private sector participation in job creation. Hence,
the ultimate mandate of the proposed Digital Vocational Academy (VDA) is to get
youths and women employed 3 , particularly, in the field of information and
communication technologies (ICTs). Liberia is perhaps one of the most youthful
countries and this come with the great challenge of how to get these young men and
women meaningfully and productively engaged. Without any doubt, Liberia youths
like their counterparts in other parts of the world are particularly attracted to the
1 http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/
For the goals to be reached, everyone needs to do their part: governments,the private sector, civil society
and people like you
2 In this video, Joaquim Levy, World Bank Group Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer,
describes the new authorizing environment for development finance
3 http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/
Goal 5: Achieve genderequality and empower all women and girls
While the world has achieved progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment underthe
Millennium Development Goals (including equal access to primary education between girls and boys),
women and girls continue to suffer discrimination and violence in every part of the world.

2. 2
potential of ICTs in all aspectsof modernsociety. Therefore,onestrategy ofenforcing
positive youth development among Liberian youth is to engage them in what we may
call vocational digital training (VDT).
What is vocational digital Training (VTD)? VTD entails the acquisition of functional
andorganizational skills necessaryfor employment, especially in the emerging digital
economy. Thus, the prospect of youth employment and integration into the
mainstream development process in the present digital economy depends largely on
the resolve of governmental and non-governmental groups to harness the potential
of information technologies in a collaborative fashion. 4 Skilled workers and
technicians in the ICT industry enhance the quality and efficiency of production and
maintenance in the local and global knowledge economy. Against this background,
the goalofthe proposedVDAisto train and prepare Liberianyouthfortheproduction
work in different aspects of the digital industry such as, video, visual effects, and 3D
production.
Rational for VDA (determine the key facts or ideas you wish to convey)
The optimism for the prospects of the ICT5 industry in Liberia and other countries in
Africa is derived from the impact of modern information technologies in poverty
alleviation and economic growth. The increasing rate at which Liberia and other
countries in the region have adopted modern technologies in social and economic
activities points to the growth potential of the industry in the region. Despite the
constraints of high cost, poor network quality and limited availability, the continuous
growth of computer-based production, mobile telephone, internet subscriptions and
other ICT services in Liberia indicates the emergence of a new digital economy in the
region. On the other hand, this trend points to potential employment opportunities in
the emergent digital economy. However, the question remains if the country has the
trained manpower to fill the digital job vacancies generated in the new economy.
Thus, the apparent lack of basic skills and manpower to meet the demand for
vocational digital skills in the Liberianeconomyunderscorestheneedforavocational
digital academy.
The social and private returns to investment in vocational digital training for youth
can be understood given the level of technology adoption in social and economic
activities in Liberia. The application of modern communication technologies such as
computers, the Internet and mobile phones have reached a critical mass in the
country because these technologies have become part of everyday life in both rural
and urban Liberia. ICTs can be used in vocational TVET both as subject of study and
a tool that can be used to study other subjects and for content delivery. However, the
4 Partnership
5 http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/infrastructure-industrialization/
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Investments in infrastructure – transport,irrigation, energy and information and communication technology
– are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries.

3. 3
goal of this project is to encourage the incorporation of ICT knowledge and skills as
part of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for out-of school
and unemployed youth in Liberia. Modern communication technologies are part and
parcel of the aggregate socio-cultural and economic tools essential for expanding
education and vocational training options. Besides, they are also artifacts for
promoting individual productivity and economic development in the community.
In the information age, the deployment of ICTs in vocational training and
interventions for out-of-school or unemployed youth promises to bring significant
economic and social returns to the society. More importantly, a strategic investment
in youth through the deployment of information technologies in vocational training
provides an opportunity for a “catch up” in human capital development. This is more
important when viewed against the opportunity cost in time lost by many young
people in Liberia in social vices such as youth pregnancy, insurgency/terrorism and
prostitution to mention a few. Obviously, the private and social rate of returns to
different investments in youth depends on the context of such investments. In the
case of Liberia, the return on investment on vocational digital training promises to be
huge. As part of the information age ICT has become a high-growth industry in
Liberia, particularly in Information Technology Enterprises (ITES) and Business
Process Outsourcing (BPO). This is due to increasing adoption of these technologies
within the country as well as the rising demand for BPO from the advanced
economies. This makes ICT an area of specialization in vocational training programs
in Liberia and across Africa.
Results - What will Vocational Digital Academy offer?
The academy will provide vocational training for the youth on ICT skills focusing on
multimedia, web design, database design and management and the creation of digital
contents among others. These are emerging sectors in the Liberian economy that
demand agile, skilled and ICT-based workforces. It is expected that after completing
ICT-based vocational training, youngpeoplewill acquireICT skills that arein demand
in their local economies. New ICT-based skills (such as those identified in figure 1)
can beput to work either by self-employment initiatives orexisting private andpublic
employers and ventures. This will be an additional source of employment generation
forlow-middle incomeopportunities in theoverall economy. Sometechnical and ICT-
driven and entrepreneurial activities for youth, which can be added to vocational
training programs, are:
 Internet-café management and operations
 Mobile Tele-centers
 Video technology
 Web design
 Computer and Phone technicians
 Local Area Network (LAN) technicians
 Digital photography and video studio work
 Wireless Internet technicians
 Computer graphic design

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 Software configuration and installation
 Computer literacy training
 Computer hardware assembly
 E-commerce activities
The above enterprises, which are further illustrated in figure 1, are parts of the new
frontier in the digital economy. If properly designed and managed, these enterprises
have the prospects of generating decent employment6 opportunities for the youth in
disadvantaged communities across Liberia.
Figure 1: Potential of ICTs in Vocational Digital Curriculum
Structure of the Vocational Digital Academy
This section presents the profile of academy. The proposed Vocational Digital
Academy belongs to the non-government/non-profit vocational training sector in
Liberia.VDAwill operateasan ICT-based vocational training organization.The school
will meet the exponential demand for new digital skills and competences for
employment in the emerging knowledge economy. Students would be admitted from
Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) that are partners with Students would
attend the vocational courses free of charge. Alternatively, students may equally be
required to pay a commitment fee to the CBO centers that brought them into the
program. Otherwise, World Bank Official Development grants could be explored for
6 http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/economic-growth/
Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
ICTs
in
TVET
Curriculum
Database
Design &
Development
Computer
Graphic
Design
Computer
Hardware
Assembly
Systems
Administration
&
ManagementWeb Design
& Multimedia
Technologies
Services
support &
Programming
Networking
& Network
Security
Computer
Support
Technicians

5. 5
use by the CBO. This level of participation will lead to efficient use of resources while
maximizing profit. This requires at first, private sector investment, Public-private
sector investment and finally donor participation.
The vocational and technical training curriculum of the academy will be structured in
six levels of training, namely: course one, two, three, media lab, Introduction To
Video Production and Introduction to 3D Computer Graphics (CG) (see Table 1).
Courses 1-3 will offer student basic computer training but not the major vocational
digital training. The 16 weeks training will provide the prerequisite knowledge for
one of the three vocational digital courses, namely: Media Lab, Introduction to Video
Production, and Introduction to 3D Computer Graphics (CG). Three weeks internship
program that runs concurrently is required for each of the three vocational courses.
Table 1: Proposed Vocational and Technical Curriculum
Course Vocational Training Duration
Course one
 Introduction to computers
 ICT,
 Entrepreneurship Life skills. 10 weeks
Course two
&
three
 Web environment
 Introduction to web design. 6 weeks
Media Lab
 Advanced web design and
development.
 Project Management 6 weeks
Introduction to
Video Production
 Basic skills of production & post-
production for video.
 Camera work, audio and editing
 Basics of motion graphics.
6 weeks
Introduction to 3D
Computer
Graphics (CG)
 Application of 3D computer graphics
& animation
 Using 3D graphics to create contents
for TV and Film applications
6 weeks
Partnerships (What are the reasons that the government, official aid provider
or private sector would want to participate?)

6. 6
The success ofthe VDAwill dependin part on collaborativepartnerships with private
enterprises in ICT-based industry. The involvements of the private sector in the
design and delivery of the school's educational curricula is essential to meet the skill
demands of the economy. The institution will partner with major web design and
technology companies in the cities and surrounding towns. This form of partnership
has two major advantages. First, these companies would be involved in designing
training curriculum for the academy based on labor market demands. Second, they
also provide internship and full employment opportunities for students and
graduates of the institution.
VDA graduates would be employed in the ICT-based industries, particularly in the
design and development industries in Liberia. To a large extent, the course contents,
training and graduates of the school will be demand-driven. This is crucial given that
Liberia has been rated as a pioneer in the use of phone and phone technologies in
Africa and the world. Thus, to meet the employment demand in the economy, the
academy will work closely with the market players in the ICT industry in Liberian. As
partners, these companies will monitor VDA students during the training period and
upon graduation absorb them either as interns or as employees. The training
methodology is also in line with ICT industry specifications for the production of
digital skills demanded by the industry. To a large extent, the success of the academy
in placing its students after graduation will primarily be based on the strength of its
partnership with private companies in the economy.
Given that the knowledge develops in an evolutionary fashion, it is expected that
rapid technological progress in ICT producing sectors and the greater use of ICT by
firms would help raise multifactor productivity (MFP) growth in the Liberian
economy. In addition, the alumni of the academy would be required to give back to
the institution and community by helping to train other youths and by leading self-
help groups in the use of ICT in business and life and employability skills.