The Federal Government has announced its intention to participate in the thriving global outsourcing industry, which has generated an impressive $350 billion across seven leading nations, with the aim of capitalizing on its vast employment potential for the nation’s youth.
In a move to capitalize on its potential, Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima is poised to launch the Outsource To Nigeria Initiative (OTNI) in Gombe State on Monday, March 4, 2024, a pioneering initiative led by the private sector but facilitated by government, with the Vice President’s Office providing essential support.
The initiative is tailored to foster job creation within the business process and technology-enabled outsourcing industry.Central to the overarching mission and unwavering dedication is the Initiative’s role in executing President Tinubu’s administration’s agenda for job creation.
At a briefing held in Abuja yesterday, Sen. Ibrahim Hadejia, Deputy Chief of Staff to the President (Office of the Vice President), revealed this information.
He underscored that the successful nationwide rollout of the Outsource To Nigeria Initiative (OTNI) would represent the most expedient route to ensuring job security for Nigeria’s burgeoning youth.
He said the Office of the Vice President was supporting the initiative because of the huge job opportunities in the thriving global outsourcing market, which grossed almost $350 billion in 2023 for the seven top countries that engaged in it.
Senator Hadejia said: “The jobs created in this sector are well-paying jobs, the market is growing rapidly, it is projected to grow to over half a trillion dollars by 2030.
”If we can get a big chunk of this market, it will not only be the alternative to oil, but also probably the biggest employer of young people in the country. This is why it has the full backing of the Office of the Vice President.”
“When you look at what global outsourcing partners are looking for, we are probably in a better position than even most of the countries engaged in it today.
”We are an English-speaking country, we now have better IT infrastructure than we had 10 years ago when the boom started. And we have the skill sets, we have the human resources – vibrant and young people to actively participate in this sector.”
The Deputy Chief of Staff urged other state governors to emulate Gombe and leverage the opportunity created by the OTNI launch to provide good jobs for youths in their respective states.
On her part, the founder and Chief Executive Office of Outsource Global, who is the promoter of the programme, Mrs Amal Hassan, said the launch of OTNI on March 4 simultaneously in Gombe, Abuja and Kaduna would mark a turning point in Nigeria’s business process and outsource sector.
She disclosed that based on the requirements of the domestic and international markets, the initiative would aggregate all the talents in a worknation platform and then provide capacity building, based on the needs of the international market.
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She stated further that it would set up centres of excellence, engage in international global branding and communication aimed at showcasing the strengths and capabilities of Nigerian talents and also the deployment of the trainees to work in the international market and even the domestic market.
Acknowledging the mounting dissatisfaction among Nigerians regarding the surging air ticket costs domestically, Captain Chris Najomo, the Acting Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), has initiated steps to address the issue. He has formed a 10-member committee tasked with exploring avenues for reducing airfares, particularly on international flights.
Najomo’s resolution came shortly after the NCAA convened a high-level meeting with foreign airlines operating in Nigeria. The meeting, held just two days earlier, emphasized the necessity of unblocking low inventory tickets that had been inaccessible for over 18 months.
Convened at the NCAA headquarters in Abuja, the meeting brought together representatives from the NCAA, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), and the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA). Furthermore, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) provided a presentation representing foreign airlines.
Under the leadership of Mr. Horatius Egua, Director of Special Duties at the NCAA, the committee has been assigned the responsibility of ensuring compliance from foreign airlines with the government’s directives to release all low inventory tickets and to propose suitable ticket pricing measures.
At the meeting convened in Abuja from February 12 to 13, 2024, Mr. Egua, represented by Najomo, voiced his frustration over the discriminatory nature of the airfares.
He said: “We cannot continue to pay higher fares, compared to other countries in the sub-region that have similar distances, using the same operating aircraft.
He expressed dissatisfaction, stating that having the market advantage and, in some cases, more lenient taxes was unacceptable, and they rejected it.
He cited an example where a six-hour flight from Ghana to London might cost about $800, while a similar distance with comparable aircraft operating in Nigeria costs over $2000. They deemed this discriminatory and unfair, rejecting it entirely.