FG Pledges to Make Nigeria Outsourcing Hub in Africa

http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/fg-pledges-to-make-nigeria-outsourcing-hub-in-africa/164184/

Dele Ogbodo
The federal government Tuesday pledged to make Nigeria the preferred outsourcing market hub and destination in Africa and among the leaders in service delivery and employment generation, promising to generate 100,000 jobs annually through it for its teeming youths in the next three years.

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), an agency under the Federal Ministry of Communications Technology, expressed its preparedness to work with the Nigerian Association of Information Technology Enabled Outsourcing Companies (NAITEOC), and other stakeholders in the IT sector to develop a strategic plan for the implementation of the National Outsourcing policy that would bring about this laudable objective.

Speaking yesterday at the second National Outsourcing Conference, with the theme: “Empowering the Outsourcing Sector for Service Delivery and Job Creation, NITDA’s acting Director General, Mr. Ashiru Daura, said: “One of the most significant achievements since the last conference was held in 2011, was the establishment of the Nigerian Association of Information Technology Enabled Outsourcing Companies (NAITEOC) as an umbrella body to coordinate and champion ITE outsourcing in the country.”

He pointed out that China, India and United States have been the main destinations of global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Information Communication Technology (ICT), accounting for more than 50 percent of the overall investment, adding that India’s share alone amounts to nearly $17.2 billion.

While underscoring the potentials of Nigeria’s virile population, he said: “Nigeria, with her enormous human resources and endowed skills should be seen at the top of the ladder in providing ICT solutions and outsourcing opportunities. Our aim is to be the market hub of outsourcing in Africa and providing over 100,000 jobs annually for its youths in the next three years.”

The acting DG said: “It has become imperative to inform you that NITDA and other stakeholders in the industry aim at using the conference to chart a new course for service delivery and job creation which our economy can leverage for the attainment of the vision 2020, which is to build a virile outsourcing hub that will drive service delivery and employment generation in the country.”

Continuing, he said: “It is our resolve at NITDA to give all necessary support to NAITEOC until we achieve our goal of making Nigeria the preferred outsourcing destination in Africa and among the leaders in the world.”
Daura, however, said one of the most important prerequisites for achieving the aforementioned goal is the improvement of service delivery, as no one would outsource their business activities if there is no guaranteed and qualitative service delivery, adding that that is why the conference is part of its theme.

The theme of the conference, Daura said, was informed by the current state of unemployment in the country, which is given at 23.9 per cent of the total population by the National Bureau of Statistics. He said: “This level of unemployment is disheartening especially when we have not explored the opportunities IT outsourcing presents to us.”

According to him, NITDA and NAITEOC are also aware of the of the place of job creation in President Goodluck Jonathan transformation agenda, adding that it was their resolve to create an enabling environment for providing job opportunities for the teeming youths  through the use of IT enabled services.

He said statistics from the International Trade Centre (ITC), indicates that 2050, 80 per cent of the workforce worldwide will be working in services.

In his remarks, Chairman of NAITEOC, Mr. David Onu, said the lack of jobs in the country was responsible for a lot of social issues bedevilling the country, adding that if the youths could be gainfully employed in productive ventures, the country would move forward.

Onu acknowledged that jobs could be created for the teeming youths through outsourcing, stressing that the global outsourcing industry was about $500 billion industry with Nigeria accounting for between $5 billion to $8 billion domestic market value.
According to him, Nigeria’s outsourcing industry currently employs about 10,000 Nigerians, adding that with effective government regulatory policies in place and conducive environment, the industry could employ more than five million Nigerians directly or indirectly in the next few years, stating that the country had the potential of becoming an outsourcing destination in Africa.