The Federal Government has opened applications for organisations and individual experts to join the delivery network of its Three Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme, with N4 billion in partner funding earmarked to support verified outcomes under Cohorts 5 and 6.
The Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy announced the development on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, in Abuja, in a statement by the Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the Minister, Isime Esene.
He said the 3MTT Delivery Network would bring together organisations and individual experts capable of training Nigerians in digital and technical skills.
The delivery partners will help participants acquire technical skills and connect them to employment, freelance opportunities and entrepreneurship.
The N4 billion partner funding is earmarked to support a demand-led, results-based approach to technical skills development, linking training to demonstrable industry needs and tying financing to verified outcomes rather than training numbers alone.
Cohort 5 will be supported by the European Union and Denmark through GIZ Digital Transformation Centre Nigeria, HAUS and ESTDEV. It will also receive a grant from the MacArthur Foundation through Blue Sapphire Hub.
The latest phase marks a shift from expanding training numbers to meeting demonstrable industry demand, with the programme seeking to connect skills development to evidenced employment and business opportunities.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, said achieving the programme’s target of developing three million technical talents would require a delivery ecosystem that responds to industry demand, reaches communities across the country and can operate at scale.
He described Cohort 5 as an important milestone in the programme’s development.
He added that the approach would strengthen Nigeria’s talent pipeline and improve the country’s competitiveness in the global digital economy.
The Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Massimo De Luca, said young Nigerians were among the country’s greatest assets and that the EU was proud to support the government in turning their talents into employment opportunities.
The Ministry has invited employers, funders, technology companies, state governments and research organisations to participate in the wider 3MTT Partner Network.
Membership of the Delivery Network will remain open, with applications reviewed quarterly. Successful applicants will be admitted as either Enabled Delivery Partners or Funded Delivery Partners under Cohort 5.
The latest funding initiative builds on the Federal Government’s earlier efforts to connect 3MTT participants with employment opportunities and practical work experience.
In August 2025, Nairametrics reported that the Federal Government was partnering with business process outsourcing (BPO) companies to create job opportunities for 117,000 3MTT fellows, including opportunities to work for companies abroad. The initiative was intended to help trained participants transition into the workforce.
Earlier, in June 2024, the Federal Government announced job opportunities for 30,000 fellows who had completed the programme’s first cohort. The opportunities were to be accessible through the fellows’ 3MTT dashboards, with local and remote roles expected.
