By Tony Obiechina, Abuja 

In its determination to create jobs for Nigerians the federal government has signed a deal that will enable 50,000 youths to work for foreign firms and earn in dollars.

The move is in the advancement of the one million jobs promised to Nigerians during the launch of the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP).

At the signing of the MoU and the launch of the ‘NATEP Strategy’ in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr  Doris Uzoka-Anite explained that the 50,000 jobs which have been attracted show that Nigeria is blessed with human resources.

She said, “With a youthful population and about three 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.

“It has been estimated that by 2030, around 35 million jobs will remain unfilled globally due to skill shortages resulting in a loss of about $8.5tn. Nigeria has a large youthful and skilful population that can take advantage of this in a way that can significantly benefit our economy.

“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).”

According to the Minister, the 50,000 jobs which would earn the government an estimated $1.2bn annually for 3 years, are in different categories such as telesales, customer service, virtual administrative assistance, marketing social media assistance and tech/cybersecurity.

The federal government in September 2024 launched the NATEP, 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.

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.

Okhiria 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. Also individuals can make money and take care of their families. Everybody deserves that. So, we are very excited to be part of the solution to that.”

The National Coordinator of NATEP, Dr Olufemi Adeluyi 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 appealed to Nigerians to apply for the 50,000 available jobs in order to support the Nigerian economy.