Amina Mansur
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, on Monday, supervised the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the ministry and Lab Four for channeling of 50,000 full-time Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) jobs to the country.
The minister said jobs generated through partnership could attract about $1.2 billion annually into the Nigerian economy over the next three years, through remuneration to the employed persons as well as unlock about $60 million to develop the BPO ecosystem through direct support to the individual BPOs.
Essentially, the MoU would be executed by the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), which was launched on the sidelines of the 2023 edition of the United Nations General Assembly to connect Nigerians to employment opportunities outside the country through two channels – physical talent export and BPO.
Uzoka-Anite said through NATEP, Nigeria could honourably export its talents in a mutually beneficial and reputation preserving way, significantly reducing illegal migration.
NATEP is also positioning the country as an outsourcing destination of choice as it catalyses the growth and development of the micro, mini and mega BPO ecosystems and industries in the country.
Speaking at the ceremony, the minister said NATEP would ride on some strategic advantages of the Nigerian market that position the country as a service export and outsourcing destination of choice.
She identified some of these advantages to include strategic location and time zone, highly skilled workforce, cost-effective services, robust digital infrastructure, language and cultural compatibility, government support and stability and data privacy and security, among others.
She explained that by 2030, about 85 million jobs will remain unfilled globally due to skill shortages resulting in a loss of $8.5 trillion.
He said NATEP has had extensive meetings with stakeholders as well as forged strategic partnerships with the Cybersecurity Institute at Lab Four.
Cybersecurity Institute at Lab Four is an accredited, non-traditional training provider based in Memphis, United States of America with over 15 years of experience helping people start and advance their careers in the Information Technology (IT) and Cybersecurity fields.
Their remote work platform is a marketplace focused on connecting skilled professionals in the world to remote work opportunities in the West.
He said, “They are democratising BPO for small and medium-sized Western employers who want to leverage these opportunities to grow, while simultaneously providing opportunities for economic growth and liquidity in developing countries.”
Representative of the United States Embassy in Abuja, Mr. John Dunham, described the initiative as a “game-changer for Nigeria.”
He said, “The most valuable resource that Nigeria has is the talents of its population. The most exciting part of that is the rapid growth of IT entrepreneurs and experts in this country particularly among young people.
“And I am proud to see the US play its role to encourage the growth of the sector. It would be a game-changer for Nigeria; it is a leader in Africa in IT development. It does provide a lot of hope and excitement for a prosperous future in Nigeria.”