Bagudu says it will facilitate $1tr economy
Nigeria is actively nurturing a new generation of skilled young people to address the nation’s workforce challenges and meet global demands, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, has said, just as the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, says collaboration will facilitate Nigeria’s $1 trillion economy target by 2030.
According to Alausa, exporting Nigerian skills is a deliberate strategy to showcase the country’s talent and strengthen its global competitiveness, rather than a sign of brain drain.
Speaking when he received a delegation from the Chambers, led by the Chief Executive Officer, Dr Matthias Leder, Alausa assured the delegates that the ministry would collaborate with the Giessen-Friedberg Chamber of Commerce in Germany to harness the skills of Nigerian TVET graduates to help fill the skilled manpower gap in Germany.
The minister said the Federal Government had revitalised all technical colleges to equip young Nigerians with practical skills that meet the nation’s technical manpower needs and position them for global opportunities.
Responding to Leder’s remarks on legal labour migration, Alausa explained that the first cohort of 250,000 participants under the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme has commenced training, with a target to train one million young Nigerians.
He stated that the government was implementing the Dual Mandate Training programme free of charge in all technical colleges and had identified industries where participants would undergo “Student Field Training” to acquire both theoretical knowledge and practical skills.
In his remarks, Leder said between 2012 and 2018, 600 trainers and trainees were supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Giessen-Friedberg with vocational training in partnership with the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Ogun State Council of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OCUNCCIMA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Nigerian German Business Association (NGBA).
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, made a call for collaboration between Nigeria and Germany during a visit by a delegation from the Giessen Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IHK Giessen-Friedberg) of Germany, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Matthias Leder.
The visit, occurring amid a renewed push for economic diplomacy under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, focused on strengthening cooperation in trade, investment, vocational training, and legal labour migration — all regarded as crucial elements of Nigeria’s goal to become a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Bagudu emphasised the importance of moving beyond mere formal exchanges towards achieving measurable, strategic outcomes that influence lives and reinforce institutions.
In his remarks, Mr Matthias Leder, Chief Executive Officer of IHK Giessen-Friedberg, expressed appreciation for Nigeria’s sustained engagement and reaffirmed the chamber’s readiness to expand cooperation in enterprise development and structured migration.
