The Federal Government and Unique Talent Export Limited ( UTEL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to connect 250 Nigerians to foreign jobs in Kuwait, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Scandinavian countries, among others. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, supervised the MoU engagement in Abuja at an occasion witnessed by dignitaries from Nigeria and diplomats from overseas countries.
The MoU, which will be executed by the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), was described as another milestone in government’s efforts to ensure that Nigerians have access to quality employment opportunities. “These employment opportunities could be direct employment and emigration of our talent or utilisation of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) model for gainful and meaningful employment for those based in Nigeria.
Through NATEP, Nigeria can honourably export her talents in a mutually beneficial and reputation preserving way, putting an end to illegal migration and the embarrassment there from the country. This MoU signed with UTEL Ltd, a Nigerian subsidiary of Unique Agency Kuwait- a leading provider of expatriate employees for the government agencies and departments in the State of Kuwait,” she said.
The partnership with UTEL entails aggregating foreign jobs for Nigerians from Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. The move is in line with Federal Government’s aim to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with nations and global institutions to facilitate the provision jobs for Nigerians A recent research by the Migration Policy Institute Washington-DC, indicates that more than have of Nigerian immigrants (54%) are likely to occupy management positions, compared to 32 per cent of other immigrants and 39 per cent of the US-born population.
Similarly, the 2021 Office for National Statistic Report from the United Kingdom (UK) showed that 44 per cent of adult residents born outside the UK have some form of qualification, compared to 31 per cent of UK-born residents, while 66 per cent Nigeria immigrants have received one form of qualification or another.
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.
