The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, has said the Federal Government would soon announce the next step in its ongoing applications for the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program.
This came as he disclosed that over 1 million Nigerians have now applied to be part of the program. Announcing the development via a post on X, the Minister said the next step for the applicants would be announced in the next 12 hours.
A screenshot of the registration database posted by the Minister shows that a total of 18,644 companies have applied as service providers in the program. In addition, 1,407 applications have been received as partners to the program.
Earlier, the Minister had announced a N1 billion funding for the program to be provided by IHS Telecom. According to the Minister, the N1 billion funding from IHS Towers also includes a commitment to paying the salaries of 37 dedicated learning community managers for each location for the next 3 years.
The support came as a boost to the federal government’s program which seeks to train 3 million Nigerians in technical skills over the next 4 years.
Going by the implementation plans released by the government, the training will be held in 3 phases.
The first phase is expected to accommodate 30,000 people, while the second phase will admit 300,000, and the 3 million to be completed in the third phase.
According to Tijani, the 3MTT program is a critical part of the Renewed Hope agenda, and is aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone to power its digital economy and position Nigeria as a net talent exporter.
He said the first phase of the program, executed in collaboration with NITDA, will involve multiple stakeholders including fellows, training providers, partners, and placement organizations.
In the first phase, he said the government would We will select individuals with an interest in specific skills and fund the cost of their training with training providers accepted into the program.
Highlighting how the first phase of the program will run, the Minister stated:
According to the Minister, some of the skills Nigerians would be trained on in the first phase are skills that utilise technology to enhance various roles without directly involving tech creation.
These include Digital Marketing, Project Management Software, Cloud Platforms Navigation, Data Analysis and Visualisation, Digital Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), CRM Management, Accounting Software, Graphics Design, and UX/UI Design, among several others.