Joshua Aaron Wins Commonwealth Youth Award for Driving Digital Empowerment

By Ugo Aliogo

Nigerian digital development leader Joshua Aaron has been named one of the winners of the 2022 Commonwealth Youth Award for Excellence in Development Work, honouring his contributions to digital inclusion and youth empowerment in Nigeria.

The prestigious award, presented annually by the Commonwealth Youth Programme, recognises exceptional young people under 30 who are leading impactful, scalable, and sustainable development projects across Commonwealth nations.

Aaron was selected from over 1,000 global nominations following a competitive selection process judged by development experts and Commonwealth representatives.

His award-winning initiative focused on rural and peri-urban communities in Kogi State, where he designed and delivered a grassroots training programme equipping over 1,000 underserved youths with practical digital skills, including Power BI, Excel analytics, mobile entrepreneurship, and gig-economy readiness.

The project led to over 500 participants securing employment or paid freelance work through partnerships with organisations such as Truq Logistics, AgentMe, and Startechone Limited.

Aaron’s work was recognised for directly contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 8 (Decent Work & Economic Growth) and SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure).

This recognition cements Aaron’s growing reputation as a global changemaker using technology to drive inclusive economic transformation.