The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) ,has launched its landmark Report entitled, “From Hustle to Decent Work: Unlocking Jobs and Productivity for Economic Transformation in Nigeria at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja.
The report seeks a robust, coordinated national agenda to tackle unemployment, raise productivity and unlock sustainable economic transformation.
It reveals that Nigeria’s working-age population will rise to 168 million by 2030, requiring the creation of 27 million new formal jobs, an average of 4.5 million jobs per year to keep unemployment at current levels.
The NESG warned without urgent action,
unemployment and underemployment could double by the end of the decade, leaving millions trapped in low-skilled, low-income work.
“The challenge before us is to move decisively into the consolidation phase, embedding reforms in ways that drive jobs, growth, and inclusion, while simultaneously laying the foundations for long-term transformation that secures prosperity for every Nigerian,” Mr Niyi Yusuf, Chairman, NESG said on Monday.
At the presentation of the report at the Summit, Dr Wilson Erumebor, Senior Economist at the NESG, stated: “This is not just a labour market issue; it is a huge development challenge.
“Without decisive reforms to create decent and productive jobs, an entire generation risks being trapped in vulnerable work that neither lifts families out of poverty nor moves the nation forward”.
The report identifies five key challenges such as limited depth of Nigeria’s private sector; skills mismatch and weak human capital development; poor learning outcomes in education; growth concentrated in low-employment sectors as well as structural bottlenecks such as inadequate infrastructure and high energy costs.
To nip these the bud, the report introduces the Nigeria Works Framework, which is a blueprint for a Jobs and Productivity Agenda that emphasises skills for productivity, sectoral engines of growth,
enterprise-led growth, especially small business support and upgrading the informal economy, data and institutional reforms as well as productivity for prosperity.
The NESG added that productivity must become the central metric of national competitiveness, as it must be tracked, measured and elevated as the foundation of shared prosperity.
Other key findings from the report include that over 90% of Nigeria’s workers are in informal employment, over 80% of workers are engaged in low-productivity sectors/activities and that Nigeria’s population will be 275 million by 2030.
They also include 27 million new jobs are needed between 2025 and 2030 to stabilise unemployment, as four priority sectors – manufacturing, construction, ICT, professional services – hold the greatest potential for large-scale job creation and productivity growth.
Besides, six strategic pillars make up the Nigeria Works Framework. They include Skills for Productivity, Sectoral Engines of Growth, Enterprise Development, Upgrading the Informal Economy, Institutions and Data, and Productivity for Prosperity.
