Kenya Utalii College hosted a delegation from African Children Talent Discovery Foundation (ACTDF), Nigeria on Thursday 3rd March 2022. The bilateral meeting discussed ways in which ACTDF and Kenya Utalii College can collaborate for mutual benefits.
ACTDF, a non-governmental organization focuses on empowerment of the young people mainly in Nigeria as well as other African countries such as Ghana, Gambia, Senegal, Cameroon and Kenya. Their international programmes include the United States of America. The ACTDF delegation was led by Engr. (Dr.) Noah Dallaji, President/Founder. Other members included Hon. A. M. Kundak, Amb. Dr. Kingsley Ebenyi, Mr. Mohammed Abdul, Hon. Sen. Lawal Yahaya and Mr. Cuthbert Ncube, Executive Chair, African Tourism Board,
During the bilateral discussions, the Principal & CEO, Prof. Charles Musyoki, PhD, OGW highlighted the important role Kenya Utalii College continues to play in capacity building for the hospitality and tourism industry, not only in Kenya but the African continent as a whole. He stressed on the competency based nature of the programmes offered, which goes hand in hand with the practical and technical nature of the industry. The College was the first one of its kind in Africa, as a result most trained personnel in the hospitality and tourism industry are graduates of the College.
The College has over the years established strategic partnerships with various institutions across Africa such as Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia etc. To further enhance these partnerships, the College is interested in collaborating with ACTDF for mutual benefits which include training and capacity building of Nigerian students and professionals, supporting needy young talented students and training entrepreneurial skills to young people.
The President of African Children’s Talent Discovery Foundation ACTDF, Engr. (Dr.) Noah Dallaji lauded Kenya Utalii efforts in nurturing skills for the hospitality and tourism sector. He is now looking forward for ACTDF to develop the same talent and skills in Nigeria, to enable the Country have a larger pool of students trained in these tourism and hospitality competency based programmes. Overall, the team from ACTDF was impressed by the College’s training model which emphasizes practical skills and proposed the establishment of a similar model for adoption in Nigeria.
The respective organizations agreed to further the relationship by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the mutual benefit of the two organizations.