Unemployment is a huge problem in Nigeria, the last uncontroversial rate from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for 2011 shows 23.9% of the population is unemployed. However, unemployment amongst the youth is much higher.

This dire situation makes it imperative for government and citizens to seek viable solutions to this problem. This article is my contribution in this regard and it focuses on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as a means towards generating employment in Nigeria.

According to Wikipedia, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business process to a third-party service provider.

Statista estimates that the global market size of business process outsourcing in 2014 amounted to 28.5 billion U.S. dollars.

This business has huge potential for creating hundreds of thousands to millions of jobs in Nigeria if the government implements the appropriate policies and enters into partnership with the private sector including foreign investors to create tech hubs.

The kinds of jobs that would be created include: call center agents, data entry officers and analysts. Nigeria's Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector has grown astronomically since the introduction of GSM in 2001 and the country now has 100% telephone penetration according to the National Communications Commission (NCC) meaning that virtually every Nigerian has access to a phone and as technology advances; the skill set of users keeps improving including many educated but unemployed youths.

By creating tech hubs that benefit from tax breaks and stable electricity supply from off-grid Independent Power Plants {IPPs), the government can easily create jobs to reduce the alarming rate of unemployment in Nigeria. If each tech hub has at least 1,000 workstations, employees could work 6-hour shifts meaning one workstation can accommodate 4 employees in a day.

100 tech hubs could be open across the country with Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu, Onitsha Owerri, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Jos hosting them in the first phase. This could be expanded to ensure that there is at least 1 tech hub in every state of the federation within a year.

Training would be done to bring job applicants to the standard required to do these jobs. With 4,000 jobs created at every tech hub multiplied by 100, we have 400,000 direct jobs created with about 100,000 related jobs to be created as well from the process of building, maintaining and sustaining the tech hubs. This is an estimate for just the first year, in 4 years, 2 million jobs could be created as the industry expands and services are provided to foreign companies.

This idea is viable and feasible as countries like India and The Philippines have benefitted from BPO, I hope the in-coming government of General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.) will work towards implementing or at least modifying it as it seeks to deliver new jobs to the unemployed which is one of its key campaign promises to Nigerians.

Source: http://www.coolstuff49ja.com/2015/04/how-gen-buhari-can-create-2-milllion.html#.VTAxz8aiQmc

Well the poster below me have something to say...

How many people will now teach GMB how to govern us?

Edwardhead:
How many people will now teach GMB how to govern us?

#LOL. As many as you want.

What exactly will this 2 million people be doing?
what value or service will they be adding to the economy?

tit:
What exactly will this 2 million people be doing?
what value or service will they be adding to the economy?

Have you read the post at all?

They will be working at the very least for 6 hours a day at jobs that demand productivity.

As e-business and online retailing in particular expand in Nigeria and other emerging markets,, there is going to be the need for customer service, telemarketing, data entry and analyst positions to be filled.

This provides an opportunity to employ a lot of young people and remove them from poverty. I am suggesting that the incoming government actively leverages on this to create jobs.

Is it becoming clearer to you now?

That's a nice idea. Kudos to the OP for the suggestion.

Another job creation program would be the establishment of a private sector-led national airline; and the setting up of a 2nd aircraft MRO facility. These two projects could also create millions of jobs.

@OP, Excellent post !!

Countries such as Phillipines, India, Singapore etc have successfully implemented some of the DPO schemes you mentioned. In addition to providing employment, they contribute to the foreign exchange reserves of these countries. Funds used to pay the employed folks typically come from corporations in places such as USA, UK and other western nations.

Lets hope the [url=lalasticlala.obinoscopy.seun.ishilove]NL Authorities[/url] find it fit to move this thread to the FP.

There are lots of b®illiant policies and plans by government since 1960. The challenge we have is sincerity and the political will to implement them to the letter. This your idea like others is not bad but "Do we have the infrastructure"? We can't run when we are yet to walk. OÑe major Challenge those countries you meantined are facing is the problem of "cheap" labour. How do we tackle that considering how expensive commodities are in Nigeria? It is not just about "creating jobs", it is about creating job that will impact on the lives of the citizenry. The citizens ought to get value for the work they do and not the opposite.

We must and should fix relevant sectors like power, manufacturing, financial, tourism, mining, Agricultural, petroleum etc if we ever want to create a sustainable country that will be employment haven not just for our citizens alone, but will attract foreigners. Most importantly, we must fix our Educational and reposition our socio-political sectors. Without doing these things, we will continue to chase shadows.

I hope I make sense

This is good

maclatunji:


Have you read the post at all?

They will be working at the very least for 6 hours a day at jobs that demand productivity.

As e-business and online retailing in particular expand in Nigeria and other emerging markets,, there is going to be the need for customer service, telemarketing, data entry and analyst positions to be filled.

This provides an opportunity to employ a lot of young people and remove them from poverty. I am suggesting that the incoming government actively leverages on this to create jobs.

Is it becoming clearer to you now?

what exactly will they be e-marketing?
will mtn nigeria close down their call-centers so you can take over their work?
so all the people marketing organo-gold will stop and allow only you to market the thing for them?

what exactly are your 2 million people going to market?
do you want them to compete with Indian call-centers for the "US" customer-support/help-desk market?

tit:


what exactly will they be e-marketing?
will mtn nigeria close down their call-centers so you can take over their work?
so all the people marketing organo-gold will stop and allow only you to market the thing for them?

what exactly are your 2 million people going to market?
do you want them to compete with Indian call-centers for the "US" customer-support/help-desk market?

Already a lot of companies outsource these functions, my plan is to expand the scope and lower the cost to them with government supported infrastructure.

The target for the international market is not the US alone, it is any company in any country that English is spoken. Hausa and Yoruba are also International languages.

nduchucks:
@OP, Excellent post !!

Countries such as Phillipines, India, Singapore etc have successfully implemented some of the DPO schemes you mentioned. In addition to providing employment, they contribute to the foreign exchange reserves of these countries. Funds used to pay the employed folks typically come from corporations in places such as USA, UK and other western nations.

Lets hope the [url=lalasticlala.obinoscopy.seun.ishilove]NL Authorities[/url] find it fit to move this thread to the FP.

You are right about capital inflow into the country. One of the reasons unemployment is such a problem is that we hardly produce anything in Nigeria and when we are so import dependent, we are giving jobs to people in other countries.

Services in general and BPO in particular are an effective short-term measure to curb this trend. We can increase our productive capacity as infrastructure improves especially electricity and transportation.

Our Export Processing Zones have to be revamped and supported with infrastructure to increase our exports and foreign exchange earnings.

Nigeria's economic problems are not difficult to solve if we have a dedicated and honest government. I don't see any reason for us not to have double digit economic growth in the next decade, we are abundantly blessed with resources that can sustain this kind of growth.

Nice one

Believe me previous govts were fully aware of this initiative. Its a wonderful proposition that has been thrown around in many fora. Moreso because Nigerians are well-positioned to take up this opportunity given dat English is our official lang. and we are a highly motived pple.

Unfortunately its not feasible at the moment. We simply do not have d infrastructure to back this initiative. Countries that have succeeded in this dont make do with 3000 Mw in power genration. I'm even not talking of poor poliferation of good internet connectivity. Before we can embark on this we have to start with a hefty investment FIRST in infrastructure.

Its novel idea for tackling unemployment. Bt Buhari will be better adviced to make infrastructure development his priority. That would be a wonderful legacy on its own.

Nice reasoning. Anything that would legitimately bring in the foreign exchange and it spreads across the people.

PapaUwa:
Believe me previous govts were fully aware of this initiative. Its a wonderful proposition that has been thrown around in many fora. Moreso because Nigerians are well-positioned to take up this opportunity given dat English is our official lang. and we are a highly motived pple.

Unfortunately its not feasible at the moment. We simply do not have d infracstructure to back this initiative. Countries that have succeeded in this dont make do with 3000 Mw in power genration. I'm even not talking of poor poliferation of good internet connectivity. Before we can embark on this we have to start with a hefty investment FIRST in infracstructure.

Its novel idea for tackling unemployment. Bt Buhari will be better adviced to make infracstructure development his priority. That would be a wonderful legacy on its own.

@bolded, are you aware that Lagos State Secretariat Alausa is off the national grid and has its own dedicated Independent Power Plant (IPP)? Same for critical Lagos State-owned infrastructure on Lagos Island like Island Maternity Hospital, Massey Children's Hospital l and State House Marina.

Governor Fashola has shown that this can be done in Nigeria and that is why I am suggesting the government provides the required infrastructure whilst private sector partners/investors guarantee a minimum number of jobs will be available if these tech hubs are created.

The infrastructure deficit is not a problem at all NIGCOMSAT has idle capacity for Internet services just to show you that the obstacles you have highlighted are not as insurmountable as you are thinking.

PapaUwa:
Believe me previous govts were fully aware of this initiative. Its a wonderful proposition that has been thrown around in many fora. Moreso because Nigerians are well-positioned to take up this opportunity given dat English is our official lang. and we are a highly motived pple.

Unfortunately its not feasible at the moment. We simply do not have d infracstructure to back this initiative. Countries that have succeeded in this dont make do with 3000 Mw in power genration. I'm even not talking of poor poliferation of good internet connectivity. Before we can embark on this we have to start with a hefty investment FIRST in infracstructure....

You are quite right.

Like they always say: "the devil is in the detail". I believe Nigeria's infrastructural deficits could make this project very costly.

maclatunji:


Already a lot of companies outsource these functions, my plan is to expand the scope and lower the cost to them with government supported infrastructure.

The target for the international market is not the US alone, it is any company in any country that English is spoken. Hausa and Yoruba are also International languages.

Interesting. Are you aware that there is growing sentiment against the outsourcing of jobs in the west? In the light of this can this strategy really be a sustainable one?

maclatunji:
Unemployment is a huge problem in Nigeria, the last uncontroversial rate from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for 2011 shows 23.9% of the population is unemployed. However, unemployment amongst the youth is much higher.

This dire situation makes it imperative for government and citizens to seek viable solutions to this problem. This article is my contribution in this regard and it focuses on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as a means towards generating employment in Nigeria.

According to Wikipedia, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business process to a third-party service provider.

Statista estimates that the global market size of business process outsourcing in 2014 amounted to 28.5 billion U.S. dollars.

This business has huge potential for creating hundreds of thousands to millions of jobs in Nigeria if the government implements the appropriate policies and enters into partnership with the private sector including foreign investors to create tech hubs.

The kinds of jobs that would be created include: call center agents, data entry officers and analysts. Nigeria's Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector has grown astronomically since the introduction of GSM in 2001 and the country now has 100% telephone penetration according to the National Communications Commission (NCC) meaning that virtually every Nigerian has access to a phone and as technology advances; the skill set of users keeps improving including many educated but unemployed youths.

By creating tech hubs that benefit from tax breaks and stable electricity supply from off-grid Independent Power Plants {IPPs), the government can easily create jobs to reduce the alarming rate of unemployment in Nigeria. If each tech hub has at least 1,000 workstations, employees could work 6-hour shifts meaning one workstation can accommodate 4 employees in a day.

100 tech hubs could be open across the country with Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu, Onitsha Owerri, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Jos hosting them in the first phase. This could be expanded to ensure that there is at least 1 tech hub in every state of the federation within a year.

Training would be done to bring job applicants to the standard required to do these jobs. With 4,000 jobs created at every tech hub multiplied by 100, we have 400,000 direct jobs created with about 100,000 related jobs to be created as well from the process of building, maintaining and sustaining the tech hubs. This is an estimate for just the first year, in 4 years, 2 million jobs could be created as the industry expands and services are provided to foreign companies.

This idea is viable and feasible as countries like India and The Philippines have benefitted from BPO, I hope the in-coming government of General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.) will work towards implementing or at least modifying it as it seeks to deliver new jobs to the unemployed which is one of its key campaign promises to Nigerians.

Source: http://www.coolstuff49ja.com/2015/04/how-gen-buhari-can-create-2-milllion.html#.VTAxz8aiQmc

n how much will this ur tech jobs be paying a graduate?
will it guarantee job security or na job wey u will be sufferng n smiling?
una just want make buhari deliver but if na GOd bring am he will, if no b0e God if u like suggst robbery buhari wont deliver, Period.

u guys fit hype things o, so na only alausa fit dey off d national grid?
thought they were being paid to govern n make d state livAble not only whr they live?
for uur info tinapa in calabar is off national grid n its ipp is responsible for all d security lights u see in d state. that s y u wont find any generating set in every street corner like in uyo my state capital. credit to donald duke.

maclatunji:


@bolded, are you aware that Lagos State Secretariat Alausa is off the national grid and has its own dedicated Independent Power Plant (IPP)? Same for critical Lagos State-owned infrastructure on Lagos Island like Island Maternity Hospital, Massey Children's Hospital l and State House Marina.

Governor Fashola has shown that this can be done in Nigeria and that is why I am suggesting the government provides the required infrastructure whilst private sector partners/investors guarantee a minimum number of jobs will be available if these tech hubs are created.

The infrastructure deficit is not a problem at all NIGCOMSAT has idle capacity for Internet services just to show you that the obstacles you have highlighted are not as insurmountable as you are thinking.

I am concerned about the cost and revenue profile of this project! It looks very risky.

Nobody is saying it isn't feasible, but every invested naira has alternative uses. The question is, "is this the best way to go at this point?"

maclatunji:


@bolded, are you aware that Lagos State Secretariat Alausa is off the national grid and has its own dedicated Independent Power Plant (IPP)? Same for critical Lagos State-owned infrastructure on Lagos Island like Island Maternity Hospital, Massey Children's Hospital l and State House Marina.

Governor Fashola has shown that this can be done in Nigeria and that is why I am suggesting the government provides the required infrastructure whilst private sector partners/investors guarantee a minimum number of jobs will be available if these tech hubs are created.

The infrastructure deficit is not a problem at all NIGCOMSAT has idle capacity for Internet services just to show you that the obstacles you have highlighted are not as insurmountable as you are thinking.

I'm not saying they are insurmountable. I'm being realistic. We need to set our priorites right. We are seriously lagging behind.

While we were groping in d dark, countries like philippines, india were taking huge strides in infracstructure. It took them years to get to where they are nw. We cant just press 'fast-forward' and join them at d high-table overnight.

I dont know hw big d IPP powering Alausa is, bt for d hub centres u imagine it wuld take scores of high-end IPPs to effectively spread dem across d country. And u know in some states there are no gas pipelines to support IPPs. So they would have to be built first. There are so many things that have to be in place before we get there. Bt we need to focus.

Why are we paying thru d nose for internet services in Nigeria when NIGCOMSAT has idle capacity. Sumtin is wrong somewhere.

I would like to see the procurement agency in private hands, let private companies handle contract bids.

PapaUwa:


I'm not saying they are insurmountable. I'm being realistic. We need to set our priorites right. We are seriously lagging behind.

While we were groping in d dark, countries like philippines, india were taking huge strides in infracstructure. It took them years to get to where they are nw. We cant just press 'fast-forward' and join them at d high-table overnight.

I dont know hw big d IPP powering Alausa is, bt for d hub centres u imagine it wuld take scores of high-end IPPs to effectively spread dem across d country. And u know in some states there are no gas pipelines to support IPPs. So they would have to be built first. There are so many things that have to be in place before we get there. Bt we need to focus.

Why are we paying thru d nose for internet services in Nigeria when NIGCOMSAT has idle capacity. Sumtin is wrong somewhere.

We can have waivers on solar equipments for instance, there several ways to generate electricity expecially with small IPPs, we don't necessarily have to start building gas pipelines

Volksfuhrer:


I am concerned about the cost and revenue profile of this project! It looks very risky.

Nobody is saying it isn't feasible, but every invested naira has alternative uses. The question is, "is this the best way to go at this point?"

In my opinion it is because it will create jobs and linkages with multinationals that might never come to Nigeria otherwise.

It has low risk in my opinion with government involvement and the figures required will not break the bank.

PapaUwa:


I'm not saying they are insurmountable. I'm being realistic. We need to set our priorites right. We are seriously lagging behind.

While we were groping in d dark, countries like philippines, india were taking huge strides in infracstructure. It took them years to get to where they are nw. We cant just press 'fast-forward' and join them at d high-table overnight.

I dont know hw big d IPP powering Alausa is, bt for d hub centres u imagine it wuld take scores of high-end IPPs to effectively spread dem across d country. And u know in some states there are no gas pipelines to support IPPs. So they would have to be built first. There are so many things that have to be in place before we get there. Bt we need to focus.

Why are we paying thru d nose for internet services in Nigeria when NIGCOMSAT has idle capacity. Sumtin is wrong somewhere.

@bolded, the answer to your question lies in 2 words: bad governance

Yes it will create more jobs with a salary below average. Do you know how much call center agents in Airtel under BPO are been paid? ( 35k) per month for Bsc holder and they work for 7-8hrs, is that the kind of slavery you want your siblings to be subjected to all in the name of outsourcing in your own country? Why in MTN, they have different salary range for same Bsc,while some earn above 100k with staff lines and other benefit some earn below 90k without staff lines and other benefits yet both work under the same BPO or is it Glo that some CCRS earns 180k and others 72k with the same job Responsiblities or Etisalat where the outsourcing staffs monthly take home is 50k. I can only encourage such to this present govt if only labour union can look critically into it properly and correct these irregularities within the BPO. Imagine what these lebanese and India people can't do in their country they are given the free hand to do it in our country with the help of our own people all in the name of creating more jobs via BPO. Or have you forgotten so soon what happened to call center agents in Jos few years back contracted to CNSSL by MTN through this same BPO you are talking about. Even the Nigerian labour union could not do anything to salvage the situation

maclatunji:
Unemployment is a huge problem in Nigeria, the last uncontroversial rate from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) for 2011 shows 23.9% of the population is unemployed. However, unemployment amongst the youth is much higher.

This dire situation makes it imperative for government and citizens to seek viable solutions to this problem. This article is my contribution in this regard and it focuses on Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as a means towards generating employment in Nigeria.

According to Wikipedia, Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is a subset of outsourcing that involves the contracting of the operations and responsibilities of a specific business process to a third-party service provider.

Statista estimates that the global market size of business process outsourcing in 2014 amounted to 28.5 billion U.S. dollars.

This business has huge potential for creating hundreds of thousands to millions of jobs in Nigeria if the government implements the appropriate policies and enters into partnership with the private sector including foreign investors to create tech hubs.

The kinds of jobs that would be created include: call center agents, data entry officers and analysts. Nigeria's Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector has grown astronomically since the introduction of GSM in 2001 and the country now has 100% telephone penetration according to the National Communications Commission (NCC) meaning that virtually every Nigerian has access to a phone and as technology advances; the skill set of users keeps improving including many educated but unemployed youths.

By creating tech hubs that benefit from tax breaks and stable electricity supply from off-grid Independent Power Plants {IPPs), the government can easily create jobs to reduce the alarming rate of unemployment in Nigeria. If each tech hub has at least 1,000 workstations, employees could work 6-hour shifts meaning one workstation can accommodate 4 employees in a day.

100 tech hubs could be open across the country with Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu, Onitsha Owerri, Abuja, Kano, Kaduna and Jos hosting them in the first phase. This could be expanded to ensure that there is at least 1 tech hub in every state of the federation within a year.

Training would be done to bring job applicants to the standard required to do these jobs. With 4,000 jobs created at every tech hub multiplied by 100, we have 400,000 direct jobs created with about 100,000 related jobs to be created as well from the process of building, maintaining and sustaining the tech hubs. This is an estimate for just the first year, in 4 years, 2 million jobs could be created as the industry expands and services are provided to foreign companies.

This idea is viable and feasible as countries like India and The Philippines have benefitted from BPO, I hope the in-coming government of General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd.) will work towards implementing or at least modifying it as it seeks to deliver new jobs to the unemployed which is one of its key campaign promises to Nigerians.

Source: http://www.coolstuff49ja.com/2015/04/how-gen-buhari-can-create-2-milllion.html#.VTAxz8aiQmc

ApexTitan:


Interesting. Are you aware that there is growing sentiment against the outsourcing of jobs in the west? In the light of this can this strategy really be a sustainable one?

The West is not doing well economically. I am more interested in emerging markets. Nigeria is one of them. Imagine us taking outsourced jobs from West African countries, South Africa, East Africa, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia etc because we are good at it and can do it cheaper.

If you doubt our ability as a people to achieve this, just walk into a major cyber cafe in any city and see how young people are using similar skills for crime. If they can use basic technology for crime, imagine what we can use it for legally.

jbaby4u:
Yes it will create more jobs with a salary below average. Do you know how much call center agents in Airtel under BPO are been paid? ( 35k) per month for Bsc holder and they work for 7-8hrs, is that the kind of slavery you want your siblings to be subjected to all in the name of outsourcing in your own country? Why in MTN, they have different salary range for same Bsc,while some earn above 100k with staff lines and other benefit some earn below 90k without staff lines and other benefits yet both work under the same BPO or is it Glo that some CCRS earns 180k and others 72k with the same job Responsiblities or Etisalat where the outsourcing staffs monthly take home is 50k. I can only encourage such to this present govt if only labour union can look critically into it properly and correct these irregularities within the BPO. Imagine what these lebanese and India people can't do in their country they are given the free hand to do it in our country with the help of our own people all in the name of creating more jobs via BPO. Or have you forgotten so soon what happened to call center agents in Jos few years back contracted to CNSSL by MTN through this same BPO you are talking about. Even the Nigerian labour union could not do anything to salvage the situation

The institutions you complain off are largely unregulated at the moment. I believe that the in-coming government of General Buhari has the interests of Nigerians at heart and will ensure fair remuneration.

I have not said the jobs that would be initially created would be glamorous but they would employ a large number of people, enhance their skill levels and take them out of poverty.

Think of it as taking people from zero to something. As the economy improves, some people would leave these jobs for better jobs.

There are still cleaners in the most economically prosperous countries and neither their job nor their pay is glamorous.