US hiring 8,500 engineers, architects, artisans, et cetera for $737m projects
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Mover over to Lagos. America and American companies are creating over 8,500 jobs in Nigeria’s commercial hub, pumping $737 million into mega projects that need engineers, architects, artisans, construction workers, administrators, and others.
Last month, two American firms, Kimberly-Clark and Microsoft Corporation, invested $100 million each. The United States Mission topped it up with the groundbreaking of a new consulate which construction will cost $537 million.
All the projects are seeking to recruit Nigerian workers.
The projects join a plethora of recent US initiatives to strengthen its relationship with Africa’s most populous nation, a friendship that dates back decades but has developed to new heights since May Beth Leonard became US Ambassador in 2019.
Through Leonard’s personal interest and personal involvement in growing relations between the two countries, the US Mission in Nigeria has done several human capital building programmes in Lagos and farther afield.
Capacity building schemes
Capacity building schemes the US consulate has organised in Nigeria between 2021 and March 2022 alone include:
- Held STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) workshops for teachers and students in Lagos.
- Held STEM with drone soccer competition among secondary schools in Lagos. The three best performing teams won a prize of a $1,500 STEM lab each for their respective schools.
- Taught 30 Nigerian youth entrepreneurs how to use a drone for business.
- Opened in Lagos a Window on America centre where youths are trained to develop ideas and entrepreneurship and leadership skills.
- Launched ReportMagoMago.com, a website that encourages Nigerians to fight against graft, launched in Lagos in collaboration with the Inter-Religious Coalition Against Corruption in Nigeria (IRCACN).
- Funded cassava research to support nutritional improvement in West Africa, including Nigeria, using soy flour in processing garri, one of Nigeria’s staple foods, to reduce iron deficiency anaemia and protein-energy malnutrition.
- Hosted a networking event for US and Nigerian Fulbright scholars at the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the scheme.
- More than 1,200 Nigerians have benefited from the Fulbright program since 1960. They get opportunities to build connections between the two countries and also help address challenges in communities across Nigeria.
- Held in 2021 Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) for 200 women selected from 17 states.
- Holding in 2022 AWE for 250 women. Application for participation closes on 7 April. AWE has trained more than 520 Nigerian women since 2018.
- Graduated 10 women aged between 18-30 from TechWomen mentorship program in 2022, bringing to 55 the total number of beneficiaries since the course was launched in 2013.
- Opened American Corner in Ikeja equipped with learning tools for students, academics, journalists, entrepreneurs, and others to know more about the US and strengthen ties between the two countries.
- Opened refurbished American Corner in Ibadan.
- American Corner is part of American Spaces, of which there are 18 in Nigeria, providing learning tools for students, teachers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists, civil society, government officials, community leaders, and others.
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Related articles:
US Consulate invites applications for 2022 AWE scheme
US Consulate graduates 10 Nigerians from TechWomen course
US lays foundation stone of its world’s largest consulate in Lagos
US firm opens $100m hygiene products plant in Lagos
Microsoft opens $100m development centre in Lagos
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Kimberly-Clark – 6,000 jobs
Kimberly-Clark, a diaper manufacturer based in Texas, opened in March a $100 million plant in Lagos that has capacity to create 6,000 jobs – 1,000 direct and 5,000 indirect.
The company says the factory, located in the Ikorodu area of the state, has the potential to scale over the next three to five years of operation.
Its brand name products include Kleenex facial tissue, Kotex feminine hygiene products, Cottonelle, Scott and Andrex toilet paper, Wypall utility wipes, KimWipes, scientific cleaning wipes, Huggies disposable diapers, and baby wipes.
Some of its products are currently imported and sold in Nigeria.
Microsoft Corporation – needs more engineers
Microsoft Corporation opened in March a $100 million African Development Centre (ADC) in Ikoyi, Lagos, a great fillip for Nigeria’s digital economy drive.
“With two initial sites in Nairobi, Kenya and Lagos, Nigeria, the ADC will serve as a premier centre of engineering for Microsoft, where world-class African talent can create solutions for local and global impact,” Joy Chik, Corporate Vice President for the Identity Division in Microsoft’s Cloud + AI group, said at the opening.
She disclosed that the centre already has more than 200 Nigerian employees, among them 120 engineers.
“Based on the great feedback we have received from engineering leads working with teams in Nigeria, we are definitely going to hire more engineering talent,” she added.
This is the seventh Microsoft centre worldwide and is seeking to recruit world-class African engineering talent to develop innovative solutions that span the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.
Microsoft is seeking in the ADC engineering talent in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and mixed reality.
Greater Microsoft presence in Africa will empower partners and customers as they use its solutions in fields important to the continent like FinTech, AgriTech, and OffGrid energy.
US consulate – 2,500 jobs
The groundbreaking of the new US consulate in Atlantic City, Lagos was done on 7 March and will be its largest in the world when completed in 2027 at a cost of $537 million.
The consulate, located on a 12.2-acre site, will support diplomatic and commercial relations between the two countries and provide American and Nigerian consulate employees with a safe, secure, sustainable, and modern workplace.
Benefits for Nigerians
The US Mission said the construction project will directly benefit Nigerians, with an estimated $95 million invested in the local economy.
The project will employ about 2,500 Nigerians, including
- engineers
- architects
- artisans
- construction workers and
- administrative staff who
will have the opportunity to learn new technical skills and safety awareness that will help distinguish them in the local market, according to the US Mission.
“Our vision for this remarkable consulate campus is to create a facility that both honors the vibrant relationship between the United States and Nigeria and communicates the spirit of American democracy, transparency and openness,” Leonard said.
Largest US consulate
The US Mission enthuses that when completed, the new consulate will provide a modern space for the largest consular operation in Africa, including improved public-facing interview and waiting areas.
It will also be the largest US Consulate in the world, demonstrating the importance of the relationship between the US and Nigeria, according to the US Mission.
The project targets Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification – a globally recognised designation for achievement in high performance, best-in-class, green buildings – and incorporates many features designed to make the building more sustainable.
Ennead Architects LLP of New York is the design architect, Pernix Federal, LLC of Lombard, Illinois, the design/build contractor, and EYP, Inc. of Albany, New York, the architect of record.
The construction project will take approximately five years, with completion expected in 2027, the US Mission said.
