Aduragbemi Omiyale
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The global outsourcing market is estimated to be worth about $350 billion and Nigeria is looking to take a slice of it to address the rising unemployment rate in the country.
Before 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) put the unemployment rate at about 33 per cent, but in its revised edition, the agency said the rate grew to 5.0 per cent in the third quarter of last year.
The outsourcing market is becoming the new oil market and Nigeria, which prides itself as the largest economy in Africa because of its population size of over 200 million, wants to quickly become a player in the sector.
Nigeria’s Vice President, Mr Kashim Shettima, in a statement by his media aide, Mr Stanley Nkwocha, said he would be in Gombe State on Monday, March 4, 2024, to launch a private sector-led, government-enabled programme known as the Outsource to Nigeria Initiative (OTNI), designed to create jobs in the business process and technology-enabled outsourcing sector.
The Office of the Vice President is supporting the initiative because of the huge job opportunities in the thriving global outsourcing market, which grossed almost $350 billion in 2023 for the seven top countries that engaged in it.
OTNI is expected to promote the outsourcing industry in Nigeria and create meaningful employment opportunities in the short and long term for youths with unique skill sets across different sectors.
According to the statement, no fewer than 1,000 Nigerians in Gombe State will be gainfully employed after the training of participants.
The statement quoted the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), Ibrahim Hadejia, as saying, “The jobs created in this sector are well-paying, the market is growing rapidly, it is projected to grow to over half a trillion dollars by 2030.
“If we can get a big chunk of this market, it will not only be the alternative to oil but probably the biggest employer of young people in the country. This is why it has the full backing of the Office of the Vice President.
“When you look at what global outsourcing partners are looking for, we are probably in a better position than even most of the countries engaged in it today.
“We are an English-speaking country, we now have better IT infrastructure than we had 10 years ago when the boom started. And we have the skill sets, we have the human resources – vibrant and young people to actively participate in this sector.”
