Centennial College delivers automotive skills training to Egyptian firm

Centennial College has won a contract to develop and manage a one-of-a-kind automotive training academy in Egypt. The Toronto-based public college has an eight-year track record of supporting local skilled-labour development in Middle East and North Africa countries.

Centennial will develop and implement a corporate training academy for Ghabbour Auto (GB Auto), which will serve the career development needs of more than 5,000 employees in the manufacturing, distribution, sales, service and corporate administration divisions of the automotive company.

"The development of skilled labour can help address the chronic unemployment endured by young people in Egypt and in neighbouring states by providing them with clear career paths in automotive-related fields," said Mike Winkfein, Centennial’s director of Business Development, Asia Pacific and Middle East.

Over the next four years, Centennial will manage the construction of the 4,000-square-metre GB Academy in Cairo, develop training paths for all employee groups, implement a corporate learning management system, develop curriculum, train faculty and deliver approximately 2,000 training days annually.

GB Auto employees who successfully complete the training will earn certification. In addition, Centennial will train a GB Auto team to assume management and support services for the academy in order to turn over its operation to Ghabbour Auto at the conclusion of the four-year implementation phase.

GB Auto is a publicly traded company and Egypt’s national distributor for Hyundai, Mazda, Volvo Truck, Mitsubishi Bus and Bajaj Motorcycle. It is the largest automotive/commercial vehicle retailer in Egypt, with operations in Jordan and Iraq.

Centennial College, which operates Canada’s largest transportation technology training centre at its Ashtonbee Campus in Toronto, won the international contract based on its ongoing success managing and delivering automotive industry training and upgrading on behalf of manufacturers and their dealers in the Middle East and North Africa.

www.centennialcollege.ca