European Business Chamber Nigeria (EuroCham) has warned that a shortage of certified industry-ready talent risks slowing Nigeria’s fastest-growing source of foreign direct investment.

The body released a new advocacy position paper calling on the Federal Government to formally partner with international industry to close Nigeria’s technical workforce gap.

In a paper, titled: “Bridging Nigeria’s Technical Workforce Gap: A Public-Private Roadmap for Harmonising Industrial Skills and Accelerating European Investment Impact,” the body cites recent research estimate that Nigeria’s skills gap costs the economy approximately $14 billion yearly, with deficits reaching 68 per cent in ICT competencies, 63 per cent in agricultural expertise, and with the power sector currently operating at only half of its required skilled staffing.

The recommendations arrived as economic ties between Nigeria and the European Union reach a new high point.

Since the two sides elevated their relationship to a strengthened Strategic Partnership in March 2026, the EU has sustained more than €35 billion in yearly trade with Nigeria and approximately €26 billion in European foreign direct investment, supporting over 130,000 direct jobs and accounting for 31 per cent of Nigeria’s total foreign trade, making the EU Nigeria’s largest trading partner and largest single source of FDI.

EuroCham’s paper argued that this investment momentum was running ahead of the domestic pipeline of certified technicians needed to deploy it, and proposed five coordinated interventions: aligning national technical certification with international industrial standards; introducing tax offsets and duty waivers for corporate investment in training infrastructure; digitising and fast-tracking expatriate quota processing to accelerate structured technology transfer; launching industry-led dual-education apprenticeships with polytechnics and establishing a unified national registry to track technical skills development and local-content compliance.

The General Manager, EuroCham Nigeria, Chigozie Okwara, said: “Nigeria’s partnership with European investors has never been stronger, and this paper reflects our commitment to matching that momentum with a workforce that can deliver on it.

Government has already taken real steps, expanding technical education, modernising polytechnics and we see this framework to accelerate that work, not compete with it. EuroCham is ready to invest alongside government to make sure Nigeria’s technical talent grows as fast as the capital coming into the country.”

EuroCham urged the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, in coordination with the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Education, to convene a Joint TVET Steering Committee within the current quarter as the first step toward implementing the paper’s recommendations.