Nigeria launches NATEP to combat unemployment at UNGA 78.
As a special purpose vehicle, the Federal Government has formed the “National Talent Export Programme (NATEP),” which aims to create at least one million employment over the next five years.
Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, made the announcement during an event titled “Positioning Nigeria as a Global Talent Hub in New York” on the fringes of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
According to her, the programme is consistent with President Bola Tinubu’s vision of diversifying the Nigerian economy, creating sustainable possibilities, and creating around 50 million employment for the youth.
“NATEP is a key national initiative that will serve as a special purpose vehicle to position Nigeria as a leading global hub for service export, talent sourcing, and talent export,” she explained.
“As part of our strategy to achieve this, His Excellency President Bola Tinubu, whose agenda is job creation, has launched a national talent export programme for Nigeria, with a five-year goal of creating one million jobs across the country.”
“NATEP is a key national initiative that will serve as a special purpose vehicle to position Nigeria as a leading global hub for service exports, talent sourcing, and talent export.”
The minister stated that the Nigerian government, led by Tinubu, was committed to diversifying the economy and generating sustainable employment opportunities, particularly for youths, by creating 50 million jobs as part of the renewed hope programme.
“This is in line with this year’s UNGA theme: rebuilding trust and igniting global solidarity, accelerating action on the 2030 agenda and the sustainable development goals towards peace, prosperity, progress, and sustainability for all,” Uzoka-Anite told a gathering of World Economic Forum and Microsoft Group officials.
According to her, NATEP will be dedicated to addressing the particular demands and difficulties of the talent and service sector export market, with a focus on boosting competitiveness, promoting innovation, and driving long-term growth through trade in services.
According to available data, the worldwide talent sourcing market is worth $620 billion in 2020 and is expected to be worth $904 billion by 2027.
With over 1.7 million graduates from higher education institutions entering the market each year, Nigeria, according to Uzoka-Anite, has the ability to deliver top personnel for the global service export and outsourcing business.
“NATEP will be a dedicated entity addressing the unique needs and challenges of the talent and service export industries.” The programme will have a strong emphasis on increasing competitiveness, encouraging innovation, and promoting long-term prosperity through trade and services.”
Uzoka-Anite stated that Nigeria is ready to become a global hub for talent export, and that the government would take full advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACfTA) to penetrate the continent’s massive market and target job opportunities in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, among other places.
“As a country, we have a significant value proposition for regional and global services export markets.” Greenfield and brownfield work possibilities will be vigorously sought throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, among other places.
“The NATEP initiative has four goals: one is to create one million service export jobs over the next five years; two is to increase foreign exchange earnings and revenue for Nigeria; three is to create economic growth and stimulate the growth of ancillary industries and support services; and four is to improve skills and strengthen the Nigerian brand.”
Dr. Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum (WEF), who also spoke at the occasion, committed to support Nigeria’s efforts in the new talent export project.
“The World Economic Forum and Nigeria have a long history of collaboration, and we are delighted to support this particular effort.”
“The forum was established some months ago as a skills accelerator in Nigeria, and we hope that we will be able to provide support to NATEP through the continuous rescaling and upskilling of the workforce that will be a part of this initiative under the leadership of Her Excellency, the minister, and others.”
“The way these accelerators work is that we bring in some of the learning and training providers, as well as some of the companies that have the most to teach the youth who are a part of these programmes.”
“Of course, bringing together the public sector as well, to then ensure that there is a rapid setup of not just the learning for those who will be part of this workforce in a rapid 18- to 24-month period.”
“However, there are ongoing systems, ongoing upskilling, and ongoing rescaling to ensure that those skills are not rendered obsolete at some point in the future,” she explained.