Madar (Ouagadougou) - Burkina Faso's skills agency, Burkina Suudu Bawdè, on Monday, 19 October 2026 in Ouagadougou launched the second edition of its programme to retrain university graduates, which aims to train 1,000 graduates in eight trade packages across 13 regions, news site Lefaso.net reported.
The call for applications, open from 10 September to 10 October 2026, drew 2,532 applications: 932 from baccalaureate holders, 1,484 from bachelor's degree holders and 116 from master's graduates. A total of 1,033 candidates were selected, most of them in the Guiriko (240), Kadiogo (233) and Nando (120) regions, the site said.
The eight packages cover poultry farming, fish farming, maintenance of ICT devices and electronic security, digital communication entrepreneurship, culinary entrepreneurship, digital referent work, bakery and pastry, and tuber processing, with additional skills in digital marketing and business management.
Chairing the ceremony, Vocational Training Minister Moumouni Zoungrana warned trainees: "We are not going to spend so much money on this training for there to be tourists in it. We expect results." He urged them to attend diligently and to build joint projects that employ others.
Speaking for the trainees, Abdoulaye Belem said many young graduates face unemployment and need to diversify their skills, adding that retraining "is not a renunciation of the academic path" but a way to enrich it with practical skills.
