On the sidelines of the 78th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), President Bola Tinubu launched the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP) at the weekend, in a bid to shore up Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings.
The President was represented at the launch, which took place at the Microsoft Office in New York, United States of America, on Friday, by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite.
According to a statement by his spokesman, Chief Aguri Ngelake, the new initiative seeks to position Nigeria as an export hub for talent outsourcing in Africa following the example of India, Bangladesh, Mexico and The Philippines.
A number of dignitaries from multilateral institutions and global tech giants joined Uzoka-Anite; and her counterpart from the Ministry of Communications Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, on the occasion.
Among them were Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, Saadia Zahidi; Chairman of US-Nigeria Business Council, Mr. John G. Coumantaros; President/Chief Executive of Corporate Council on Africa, Dr. Floriezelle Liser; Chief Executive of Outsource Global, Amal Hassan; Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi; Meta Head of Public Policy for West and Central Africa, Adaora Ikenze; Country Manager of Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana, Ola Williams, who joined online; Chief Executive of TechDev, Joel Ogunsola; and National Coordinator of the programme, Dr. Femi Adeluyi.
Also present were representative of the International Telecommunication Union at the United Nations, Ursula Wynhoven; Chief Executive of Ministry of Finance Incorporated, Dr. Armstrong Takang; Director for Sub Saharan Africa (Government Affairs and Public Policy) at Google, Mr. Charles Murito; Senior Business Development Manager at Amazon AWS, Mr. Charles Okochu; and Digital Trade Expert atAfrican Continental Free Trade Area, Michelle Masuzyo Nsanzumuco.
In her welcome address on behalf of President Tinubu, Uzoka-Anite noted that 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 exports.
According to the Minister, NATEP would serve as a dedicated entity to address the unique needs and challenges faced by the talent and service export industry.
she said the programme would lay special emphasis on enhancing competitiveness, fostering innovation, and driving sustainable growth through trade in services.
The minister further noted that NATEP is part of the strategy towards achieving President Tinubu’s agenda for job creation.
The NATEP initiative targets the creation of one million in-demand jobs across Nigeria, over a five-year period.
“This initiative will do three things for us as a country. One, it will create millions of jobs for our young people over the next five years and beyond. Secondly, it will bring in foreign exchange that our economy needs through remittances from talents that will be exported abroad and those that will be living in Nigeria and working remotely for organisations outside Nigeria and thirdly, it will generate huge tax income for state governments”, the minister said.
In her goodwill message, the Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, Saadia Zahidi said NATEP is a timely initiative to address the very important areas of skills and jobs for Nigeria and the world.
She further said that the WEF looks forward to partnering with Nigeria on the programme.
“This is an important programme that is coming at the right time. We at WEF stand ready to work with the Nigerian government on this great initiative”, Zahidi said.
Tijani, who praised his counterpart for spearheading the NATEP initiative, said his ministry would collaborate and support the programme to ensure it delivers on the set objectives.
Tijani explained the importance of talents and in-demand workforce as critical part of the global economic structure, saying such is the reason why leading countries across the world are intentional about attracting and retaining top talents.
Other speakers at the event also acknowledged how auspicious and ambitious NATEP is as a national initiative capable of changing the economic fortunes of Nigeria just like India that attracts over $300 billion annually from talents export. The speakers commended the Federal Government on the laudable initiative and gave their commitment towards supporting the programme.
A panel discussion that took place during the event was moderated by the National Coordinator of NATEP, with Amal Hassan, Ola Williams and Adaora Ikenze serving as panelists.
The panel discussion attracted a lot of positive feedback from the participants and elicited their commitment to working together to support the NATEP initiative.
The event ended with the unveiling of the NATEP logo with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment indicating to the world that Nigeria is ready to become a global hub for talent exports.
