As Nigeria bets billions of dollars on becoming the next outsourcing superpower, it is grappling with how artificial intelligence and immigration policies are radically reshaping the industry.  

The African nation is upgrading its tech infrastructure and trying to train millions with the aim of attracting outsourcing investment and jobs. It wants to follow India, the Philippines, and other countries that have turbocharged growth by offering the world the talents of their hardworking, English-speaking coders and call center workers.   

A worldwide hiring slowdown in tech, stricter U.S. immigration rules, and a surge in the use of AI to perform tasks that were traditionally outsourced have created a cloud of uncertainty around the industry. 

“The proposition of selling talent from Nigeria to global markets in the United States or Europe has become complicated, especially in Silicon Valley where a lot of recently laid-off tech talent has flooded the market,” Celina Lee, co-founder and CEO at Zindi, a professional network of data scientists and AI talent in emerging markets, told Rest of World. “The introduction of AI is eroding opportunities, particularly for junior talent.”

How Nigeria navigates these hurdles will determine whether it can ride global tech trends like Bengaluru, or lag behind in the outsourcing race. 

Nigeria is not new to outsourcing. Although not as large as India or the Philippines, its industry has recently gained momentum thanks to avid interest from its young population. The government is encouraging the industry with the “Outsource to Nigeria Initiative,” hoping to carve itself a thicker slice of the global business process outsourcing market.

The country also has one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems in Africa, with five unicorns among the eight on the continent. 

It is now aiming to accelerate growth by better preparing Nigerians to work for international companies, and get jobs abroad. This helps develop new entrepreneurs who can later return home and start new businesses.

“What India and other similar successful ecosystems did brilliantly was create a virtuous cycle: local talent trained for global exposure through outsourcing, gained international exposure, then returned to build companies and mentor the next generation,” Francis Sani, technical adviser on innovation to the country’s tech minister, told Rest of World. “We’re seeing early signs of this in Nigeria, and our goal is to accelerate this pattern.”

Nigeria is building better internet access and educating millions to increase the number of outsourced workers, providing them the tools they and their employers need to thrive. 

In 2023, the government launched the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, an ambitious initiative aimed at teaching 3 million people digital skills by 2027. More than 100,000 people have joined the program. 

The goal is to build a massive pool of tech workers who not only work locally but can also migrate for high-paying jobs to the rest of the world. To achieve this, the country is banking on its young population, favorable time zone from its proximity to Europe, growing digital infrastructure including fiber and satellite internet, and low labor costs. 

The 3MTT program is open to Nigerians aged 18 and above with at least a high school diploma. It offers free training in digital skills, including AI, cybersecurity, and software development. The classes are taught online, complemented by in-person training at more than 200 training centers.

The Nigerian government is joining a business already well served by the private sector.  

Startups including Hotels NG, AltSchool, and Treford train and match workers with employers. Andela, a unicorn tech talent startup, has outsourced Nigerian tech workers to companies worldwide. 

“Unfortunately, the reality of talent in Nigeria now is that you have to leave to reach your full potential,” Bolaji Olajide, a Nigerian software engineer working at a San Francisco-based company, told Rest of World.

Nigeria is a rising source of tech talent in the U.K. and Canada. Last year, code-sharing site GitHub said Nigeria is only the second in the world in terms of the rise of software developers using the platform.

Abuja aims to accelerate this trend with an initiative to develop better tech infrastructure.

In May, the country’s Ministry of Communication, Innovation and Digital Economy launched the Nigeria Talent Cities Initiative.

“We’re currently in the design phase for Nigeria Talent Cities, which will create tech-enabled workspaces modelled after India’s successful BPO model,” said Sani, who is also the program director of 3MTT. 

Still, some worry Nigeria is preparing for an industry that may already be in decline.

Offering talent from Nigeria to global markets is becoming more complicated. In Silicon Valley, a surge in layoffs has flooded the market. The introduction of AI, meanwhile, is eroding opportunities, particularly for junior workers. Bots are increasingly handling labor-intensive tech tasks such as basic coding and responding to consumer queries, which have historically been outsourced. 

The world will still need tech workers, but fewer of those with only the basic skills to do things that AI can do, Adewale Yusuf, co-founder and CEO of AltSchool Africa, an edtech startup teaching tech skills, told Rest of World.

“There’s a global decline in demand for tech jobs as we know it,” he said. “Front-end and back-end development as we know it might be phased out.” 

Nigerian tech workers said the key is to be sure you can do more than AI.  

AI “still needs to be told what to do and how to do it,” Linda Ikechukwu, a Nigerian developer, told Rest of World.  

AI isn’t the only thing that might throw a wrench into the works. The immigration policies of the Trump administration have made many Nigerians struggle to get or retain their work visas in the U.S. Some tech migrant workers have been forced to return home. 

Lotanna Nwosu, a U.K.-based Nigerian product marketing manager for a California startup, told Rest of World he has recently had issues getting even a temporary visit visa to the U.S. for his company.

“The American immigration policy is difficult to the point where I have been denied a visa for a company event,” he said.  

Nigerian workers with stable jobs in the U.S., too, are nervous.

“President Trump’s radical policies might take my job and send me back to Nigeria,” a U.S.-based AI engineer, who asked to be identified as Gabrial, told Rest of World. 

Still, 3MTT has become highly sought-after among young people looking to work in tech. Some applicants wait for up to a year after applying before getting admitted.  

The program has received more than 1.8 million applications. More than 7,500 of its graduates have landed jobs, said Sani.

Nigeria is adjusting the program to embrace the new reality. It has added more AI training and focused on advanced jobs, such as cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and product design. 

Nigeria is also trying to build its own AI. Some of the 3MTT graduates have been funneled into the national large language model program to help with data collection and annotation. 

Even as AI and immigration restrictions are transforming the outsourcing industry, participants say they appreciate the program because it is free and helps them stand out in the job market. 

“The 3MTT program provides a solid foundation by helping us build in-demand tech skills and offering tools like a portal to upload our CVs for visibility,” Ajani Olajumoke, a 3MTT trainee, told Rest of World.