The federal government of Nigeria, through the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lab Four, pledging to bring 50,000 full-time business process outsourcing (BPO) jobs to Nigeria over the next three years in job categories such as telesales, customer service, virtual administrative assistant, marketing/social media assistant and tech/cybersecurity.
The MoU will be executed by the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP).
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, endorsed the programme and approved its launch on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) 2023 in New York, United States of America.
The programme’s objective is to connect Nigerians to employment opportunities outside the country through two channels, namely physical talent export and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).
Supervised by the minister of industry, trade, and investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, the MoU signing ceremony took place at the Minister’s Conference Room yesterday in Abuja.
The minister said jobs generated through this partnership have the potential to annually attract up to $1.2 billion into the Nigerian economy through remuneration to the employed persons, in addition to about $60million dollars that it will provide to develop the BPO ecosystem, through direct support to the individual BPOs.
According to her, the four-pronged objectives of the NATEP initiative include delivering one million service-export jobs over the next five years, increasing foreign exchange earnings and revenue for Nigeria, creating economic growth, and improving skills while strengthening the Nigerian brand.
Uzoka-Anite, emphasised NATEP’s role as a catalyst for positioning Nigeria as a leading global hub for service exports, talent sourcing, and talent exports.
“It lays special emphasis on enhancing competitiveness, fostering innovation, and driving sustainable growth through trade in services.
“Our partnership with Lab Four will be one of the many partnerships we will have to ensure that Nigeria becomes a global hub for thriving micro, mini and mega BPOs, as well as a prime location for high-quality talent,” she remarked.
