Dennis Erezi
The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, has signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP) and UTEL Ltd, a Nigerian subsidiary of Unique Agency Kuwait to boost employment for Nigerians, especially in the diaspora.
Speaking at the signing of the MoU, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, noted that the MoU marks another milestone in our efforts to ensure that Nigerians have access to quality employment opportunities.
She also recalled that the partnership aims at creating substantial employment opportunities for Nigerians in Kuwait, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, and Scandinavia.
Uzoka-Anite said: “These employment opportunities could be direct employment and emigration of our talent or utilization of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) model for gainful and meaningful employment for those based in Nigeria.
“Through NATEP, Nigeria can honorably export her talents in a mutually beneficial and reputation preserving way, putting an end to illegal migration and the embarrassment therefrom to the country.”
The partnership with UTEL will aggregate foreign jobs for Nigerians from Kuwait and other GCC countries, she noted that the MoU is in line with the Federal Government’s aim to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with nations and global institutions to facilitate the provision of jobs for Nigerians.
At the event, it was announced that 250 foreign job openings were now available for Nigerians.
She added, “Nigerians in diaspora are known to rise like cream to the top of their professions and data validates this notion. For example, research from the Migration Policy Institute Washington-DC, indicates that more than half of Nigerian immigrants (54%) are likely to occupy management positions, compared to 32% of other immigrants and 39% of the US-born population.
“Similarly, the 2021 Office for National Statistic Report from the United Kingdom (UK) showed that 44% of adult residents born outside the UK have some form of qualification, compared to 31% of UK-born residents, while 66% Nigeria immigrants have received one form of qualification or another. It goes to show the level of quality that Nigerians can bring to the table.
“In efforts to promote talent and services export, as well as managed migration, the MoU specified a “1+2″ approach for the partnership. With this approach, for every Nigerian that is selected for a foreign job through NATEP, the partners will commit to helping connect an outsourced role to the Nigerian BPO ecosystem and also support in the training of a Nigerian to refresh the local workforce.”
The dignitaries at the event included Mr. Athbi Hussein Al Awadi (from Kuwait); Mr. Tahir Saleh Hashim (from Oman); and Advokat Torgeir Knutsen (from Norway), among others.
The minister assured the partners that Nigeria is fully committed to upskilling its talent pool to power the industrial revitalization plan of the Federal Government and to also provide skilled citizens for global talent opportunities.
