Nigeria Is the World's Next Outsourcing Frontier, Vice President Shettima Says at Hire From Nigeria Global Launch

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / October 14, 2026 / Nigeria is ready to meet the world's growing demand for talent, with an initial target of one million export-linked jobs by 2030, Vice President Kashim Shettima, GCON, said at the global launch of the Hire From Nigeria campaign.

The launch was held in New York on 24 September, on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. In a keynote address delivered on his behalf by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, the Vice President said:

"While much of the industrialized world grows older, and quietly wonders who will fill the productivity vacuum, Nigeria produces, every single year, a new generation of digitally fluent, English-speaking, ambitious young men and women, ready to serve the world from the home front and from a time zone that is convenient for almost every continent."

He added: "The global market for outsourced services will be worth over a trillion dollars in a few years' time. It is, in truth, one of the great transfers of opportunity in modern economic history, and Africa's share of it remains barely a rounding error. And so I put it to you plainly: Nigeria is the next frontier for global outsourcing."

Hire From Nigeria is a private sector-led, government-supported campaign that positions Nigeria as a competitive global source of talent, services and technology-enabled capabilities, connecting Nigerian professionals, skilled workers, digital experts, creatives and service providers with global employers, clients and markets. The global launch in New York followed the national launch in Abuja on 31 August 2026.

The Hire From Nigeria campaign is designed to make Nigerian talent easier for international businesses to discover, securely connect global businesses with Nigeria's talent and wider value chain opportunities, and deepen Nigeria's participation in the global economy.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, said that Nigeria missed the first wave of outsourcing 25 to 30 years ago and is determined not to miss this one. Describing education as foundational to Nigeria's ambition to become a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030, he further stated that reforms under way aim to "change the value chain of education, so that people are not just learning for the sake of learning, they're learning to provide solutions and learning to earn."

The President and co-founder of Tech4Dev, Joel Ogunsola, noted that Africa's outsourcing market is growing three times faster than comparable global markets. He said the campaign builds on "an already existing and growing effort", with domestic and international outsourcing companies already employing an estimated 20,000 Nigerians in the country across sectors such as customer and business operations, technology and data, and specialized and regulated services.

"Nigeria's investment in skills has to be demand-driven, talent must be easy to find, we must build trust, and we must then match the talent to jobs," he said. "If you're an international business looking to set up and hire in Nigeria, Hire From Nigeria will support you."

Rosy Fynn, Country Director for Nigeria at the Mastercard Foundation, said the Foundation's approach to building Nigeria's talent pipeline is "not to train first and look for jobs, but instead to understand what the market is looking for, and provide the training and talent to fit the need."

That approach underpins the Talent Technology Services (TTS) Nigeria Program, one of the talent pipelines supporting the Hire From Nigeria campaign. Delivered by a consortium led by Tech4Dev in partnership with Semicolon, Univelcity and the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC), and supported by the Mastercard Foundation, the Program aims to train 30,000 Nigerian women aged 18 to 35 in market-relevant technology skills and connect at least 25,000 of them to dignified jobs in the technology-enabled business process outsourcing (BPO) sector. It works with BPO operators locally and internationally to align training with their hiring needs, and places particular emphasis on women in peri-urban and rural communities, women living with disabilities, internally displaced women and nursing mothers. Through Hire From Nigeria, the Program contributes trained-talent data and operator matchmaking to help international businesses find and hire Nigerian talent.

Luqman Edu, co-founder and Executive Chairman of Itana, an Africa Finance Corporation-backed company which is building Nigeria's first digital free zone, said: "This is a very exciting time for Nigeria, and we invite global companies to look at Nigerian talent. Nigeria has the talent, and we are providing the infrastructure to ensure this talent can solve the world's problems at competitive pricing."

Yinka Adegboye, Divisional Head of Multilaterals at the Bank of Industry Limited (BOI), representing the Managing Director/CEO, Dr Olasupo Olusi, emphasised the Bank's commitment to supporting Nigeria's young entrepreneurial talent - the pipeline for Hire From Nigeria - through initiatives such as the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises program(iDICE).

Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, Director-General/CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), outlined legislative and operational reforms to strengthen digital trust in Nigeria through the rollout of digital credentials "that are verifiable locally and internationally", offering assurance to employers at home and abroad.

The launch attracted strong private sector participation, with executives from the outsourcing, financial services, manufacturing, education and healthcare sectors, alongside development partners.

The heads of several federal agencies also attended, underscoring Nigeria's whole-of-government commitment to the campaign. These included the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRC) and Galaxy Backbone Limited.

Hire From Nigeria is a coalition initiative championed by Tech4Dev and Univelcity in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Education and supported by the Bank of Industry through iDICE, and the Mastercard Foundation through the TTS Nigeria Program, alongside other government institutions, development partners and private sector stakeholders. The campaign connects Nigerian professionals, skilled workers, digital experts, creatives and service providers with international employers, clients and markets, creating pathways for Nigeria to participate more deeply in the global economy.

Media Contact:
Oluwatoyin Ashipa, Head of Communications, Hire From Nigeria
Oluwatoyin.Ashipa@hirefromnigeria.org | +234 803 328 2663

SOURCE: Hire From Nigeria