The Federal Government of Nigeria has accelerated its job creation efforts by signing an agreement that will enable 50,000 Nigerians to work for foreign companies and earn dollars.
The move is part of efforts to create one million jobs that were promised to Nigerians at the launch of the National Talent Export Program (NATEP).
NATEP was launched by The federal government in September 2023, as an initiative targeted at creating a pool of talent that will make the country a force in the global talent-sourcing industry valued at $620bn. The industry is expected to hit $1tn by 2027.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration sees the NATEP as an avenue to tap into the industry in order to shore up Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.
Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Doris Uzoka-Anite during the launch of the programme at the sideline of the UN 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last year, revealed then that the initiative will position Nigeria as an export hub for talent outsourcing in Africa, India, Bangladesh, Mexico and the Philippines. This deal consequently is an advance of that initiative.
At the signing of the MoU with Cybersecurity Institute at lab four, the minister expressed optimism at the prospects of the deal. She said, “With a youthful population and about 3 million graduates from Nigerian universities every year, we are very optimistic that we have what it takes to support this industry. As a country, we have a significant value proposition for regional and global markets for the export of services”
She also noted that the Ministry’s partnership with Lab Four will be one of many partnerships that the Ministry will engage with to ensure that Nigeria becomes a global hotspot for successful micro, small and large BPOs . “These jobs generated through this partnership have the potential to annually attract up to $1.2bn into the Nigerian economy and this is through remunerations to the employed persons and in addition $60m for the business process outsourcing system through direct support to the individual Business Process Organisations (BPO)” she further said.
Anite described the deal as a very big incentive especially in such a hyper-inflationary environment adding that anyone who can earn in dollars have their earning power higher and supported. “It’s more like inflation-proof” she remarked.
Doris afterwards revealed the ministry’s plan to partner with state governments especially those who have trained personnel but lag in job provision.
Speaking at the event, the Chief Executive Officer of Lab Four, Tony Okhiria expressed excitement about the MoU which he described as a game changer for Nigeria.
He said, “We had a dream to sort of disrupt the natural BPO process which traditionally you set up a building and work with a corporation but we believe that works but there is an additional way to scale and get more.
“This is huge because it allows Nigeria to accelerate its talent export much quicker because now even businesses across the country can be developed which generates money for them”
Dr Olufemi Adeluyi the NATEP National Coordinator explained that the job is made for people with relevant skills. He added that applicants without relevant skills will be trained and supported to have the required skills.
Adeluyi said, “A large percentage of the jobs does not require very high skills. They are skills that we can train people for between two to three weeks for them to have the skills. We will match applicants to jobs and then the BPOs.”
He just like the minister earlier did, appealed for Nigerians to apply for the 50,000 available jobs in order to support the Nigerian economy.
