The Strategic Mission Behind Camp NexGen™ is more than Fun and Games
At LGRRG, we believe that every young person deserves to see a clear path from where they are to where they could be. Camp NexGen™ wasn't designed as just another fun summer program, it was architected as a strategic intervention in one of Africa's most pressing challenges: youth unemployment and the critical shortage of STEM talent across the continent.
The Reality We're Addressing
The numbers tell a sobering story. In Nigeria alone, 42.5% of youth aged 15-34 were unemployed in 2020, with another 21% underemployed. Across Sub-Saharan Africa, the youth NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) rate reached 21.9% in 2023, surpassing the global average. With Africa being the youngest continent globally—60-70% of its population is under 25—we're looking at a demographic reality that demands urgent, strategic action.
Yet within this challenge lies extraordinary opportunity. UNESCO estimates that Africa will need an additional 23 million STEM graduates by 2030 to meet employment demands in engineering, ICT, health, and green technology. Nigeria alone is projected to have 225,000 tech job openings by 2025, particularly in AI, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. The African space industry is growing from $7 billion in 2019 to $10 billion by 2024, while green energy sectors could generate 3.3 million jobs by 2030.
Building Career Pathways
Every activity at Camp NexGen™ was deliberately chosen to connect to real career opportunities. When campers build and fly drones, they're exploring pathways into aerial surveying, agricultural technology, disaster response, and emerging fields like drone cinematography. When they code their first video game in Scratch, they're taking initial steps toward software development, robotics engineering, cybersecurity, or AI specialization.
These aren't abstract possibilities. Through our #CampToCareer initiative launched after our 2022 camp, we've already seen campers advance to become licensed drone pilots, demonstrating that the bridge from camp curiosity to professional capability is both real and achievable.
Walking the Talk
As a small but mighty organization, we understand the importance of authenticity in our mission. Our 30 volunteers are more than enthusiastic helpers, they're living proof of STEM career success. From the five Global Air University instructors who brought cutting-edge drone and programming expertise to volunteers working in cybersecurity, broadcast engineering, and technology entrepreneurship, our team embodies the career trajectories we hope to inspire in our campers.
We didn't just talk about STEM careers; we surrounded campers with professionals who wake up every day applying these skills to solve real problems and build meaningful livelihoods. This is tangible proof that mastering challenging STEM subjects can transform individual lives and, collectively, entire nations.
Strategic Intentionality Behind Every Decision
While campers certainly had fun building drones and scoring goals, every element of their experience was planned with surgical precision. We know that many of our campers—one-third of whom were orphans—come from circumstances where dreams can feel like luxuries. Our job was to make STEM subjects feel accessible, exciting, and directly connected to economic opportunity.
By combining high-quality athletic training with hands-on STEAM education, we're showing young people that excellence in multiple domains isn't just possible—it's powerful. The same focus, persistence, and teamwork that makes someone a better football player also makes them a better programmer, engineer, or entrepreneur.
Building Sustainable Impact
Camp NexGen™ is just one piece of our broader commitment to developing African youth, particularly young women. We're breaking ground on a girls' primary school in Akwa Ibom in 2026, creating an educational pipeline that will feed into programs like our camp and beyond. Every initiative is designed to address the systemic challenges that keep talented young people from reaching their potential.
The youth unemployment crisis in Nigeria and across Africa won't be solved by any single organization, but it will be solved by the accumulation of strategic, intentional investments in young minds. When we help 150 campers see themselves as future engineers, programmers, and innovators, we're contributing to the skilled workforce that Africa desperately needs.
Our why is simple: we believe that every young person should have the opportunity to discover their potential and the tools to pursue it. In a continent bursting with youth energy, that's not just an educational imperative—it's an economic and social necessity.
For more information about Camp NexGen™ or to explore partnership opportunities in our camps, school initiatives, or women and girls upskilling programs, visit campnexgen.org. To learn more about LGRRG's broader mission, visit lgrrg.org.