The federal government’s partnership with the U.S. Cybersecurity Institute, Lab Four, will generate 50,000 business process outsourcing (BPO) jobs in three years, an official has said.

Doris Anite, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, said this during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Monday in Abuja.

The MoU was signed between Lab Four and the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), the executor of the programme.

According to the minister, the jobs generated through this partnership have the potential to annually attract up to $1.2 billion into the Nigerian economy.

She identified the job categories as “telesales, customer service, virtual administrative assistant, marketing/social media assistant, and tech/cybersecurity.”

“The jobs generated through this partnership have the potential to annually attract up to $1.2 billion into the Nigerian economy through remuneration for the employed.

“In addition to about $60 million that it will provide to develop the BPO ecosystem through direct support to the individual BPOs,” Ms Anite said.

The minister said the four-pronged objectives of the NATEP initiative were to deliver one million service-export jobs over the next five years and increase foreign exchange earnings and revenue for Nigeria.

She said that to successfully implement the mandate of NATEP, there was a need for strategic partnerships, both with institutions within Nigeria and those overseas.

“As such, 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,” she said.

In his remarks, Femi Adeluyi, the national coordinator of NATEP, said the initiative would target the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector and that the selection process would be transparent.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to visit the NATEP website (www.natep.gov.ng) for further information on the programme.

Meanwhile, Anthony Okhiria, executive director, Lab Four, expressed the firm’s commitment to scaling up job creation in Nigeria.

A representative of the United States Embassy, John Dunham, said Nigeria’s most valuable resource was its abundant human population.

Mr Dunham said, “Another very important part is the rapid growth of IT, entrepreneurs and exporters in the country, particularly among the young people.

“And I am happy to see that the U.S. is trying to encourage the growth of this sector; that will be a game changer for Nigeria.”

The global talent-sourcing industry was valued at $620.381 billion in 2020 and is forecast to be $904.948 billion by 2027.

(NAN)