A nongovernmental organisation, Outsource Global Initiative says it is a beacon of hope for millions of unemployed youths in Nigeria.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Organization, Mrs Amal Hassan revealed this at a parley with State House Correspondents on Thursday.
She said: “Nigeria churns out approximately a million graduates every year with different skill sets and with this Outsource Nigeria Initiative, we are positioning Nigeria to be the leader in the outsourcing industry.”
She announced that the initiative would be launched on Monday, March 4 in Gombe State, with a similar event in Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, simultaneously.
“We are launching the project; Outsource Nigeria Initiative on the 4th of March in Gombe State and as Gombe is going live, Kaduna is also going live and Abuja is going live on the same day. So, we are inviting the general public to participate in those events.
“We are starting with training; we’ve brought in all the talents because we did a talent pool and we segregated the talents based on their different skill sets and the requirements of the international market and we have also created a structured training based on that need,” she said.
Mrs Hassan stressed that the initiative is poised to supply the needed workforce for the international community.
“So, we are matching the skill sets with the needs of the international market,” she added.
The CEO listed the types of training to be given to prospective employees to include international software development as well as international sales and marketing representatives among others.
“So we are starting with different training; customer service, sales and marketing training internationally, software development for the international market, accounting and legal services for the international market and the domestic one,” she stated.
On the criteria for the selection of beneficiaries for the project, Mrs Hassan disclosed that the organization is collaborating with the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme to obtain the data of interested participants, stressing that the selection will be based on merit.
“We have connected and we have gotten data for the NYSC directly and all the people shortlisted, we didn’t get their names from anywhere. They applied online, got tested online and we segmented them based on their strengths and skill sets, which we matched based on the needs of the international market.
“So it is purely on merit and that is how our company is built. People just apply and they get called, tested and they get employed. That is the process we follow. Even if you get to us through a referral, you have to pass our test and have the basic requirements to be pushed into the system. We ensure that it is based on merit, ” she stressed.
In his remarks, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President, Ibrahim Hadeja, underscored the relevance of the project to the government’s desire to create millions of jobs for unemployed youths.
“For me, it is probably the fastest way to achieve job security, especially for our teeming youths. Global Outsourcing last year got almost $350 billion for the seven top countries that engaged in it; Philippines, India, Malaysia and so on.
“When you look at what the Global Outsourcing partners are looking for, we are probably in a better position than even most of these countries. We are an English-speaking nation and we speak better English than all these countries that I have mentioned,“ said the Deputy Chief of Staff.
While enumerating more reasons why the project will succeed in Nigeria, he said: “We now have a better IT infrastructure than we had 10 years ago when the group started and we have the young people who are energetic and vibrant and then we have companies that are training young Nigerians that can take up these jobs.
“These are not just jobs but they are well-paying jobs and the market is growing. In 2022 it was about $261 billion and within one year it has jumped to 350 and by 2030 this market will grow to over half a trillion dollars and if we can get a big chunk of that, it will not only be an alternative to oil but will possibly be the biggest employer of the young people that we have in the country.”
Hadeja said the project has the full backing of Vice President Kashim Shettima, adding that the office of the Vice President will continue to work with the project, which he said will start with about 1000 beneficiaries.
He used the opportunity to call on state governments that are yet to embrace the programme to do so.
“State Governors can invest in providing the buildings with the support of other government agencies like the National Information Technology Development Agency and the Federal Ministry of Communications so that you now provide the infrastructure for absorbing these youths.
“I think with this kind of partnership you will see a situation where with the collaboration between the states and the federal government you can absorb 3000 or more youths within the space of 18 months. These youths, when engaged, will be earning very good salaries and they will in turn pay tax,” the Deputy Chief of Staff stated.
Dominica Nwabufo
