The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has cautioned that Nigeria must generate at least 27 million new formal jobs within the next five years to prevent unemployment and underemployment rates from climbing to 30 per cent by 2030.
This warning was contained in the NESG’s Jobs and Productivity Report, released on Monday and published on the organisation’s official website ahead of the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#31) scheduled to hold in Abuja.
According to the report, Nigeria faces a “defining challenge” as its working-age population is projected to reach 168 million by 2030, significantly increasing pressure on the economy to create sustainable and high-quality jobs.
“Jobs and productivity are central to Nigeria’s economic development,” the report stated. “The creation of 27 million formal jobs is critical to absorb new entrants into the labour market and transition millions from informal, low-productivity work into formal employment.”
The group identified several structural constraints hindering large-scale job creation, including a weak private sector, skills mismatch, deficiencies in the education system, and jobless economic growth that has failed to translate GDP gains into employment opportunities. Other challenges highlighted include regulatory bottlenecks, inadequate infrastructure, and low competitiveness, all of which limit the private sector’s capacity to expand.
To reverse the trend, the NESG urged coordinated policy reforms between government and industry stakeholders, identifying manufacturing, agriculture, digital technology, construction, and professional services as sectors with high potential for large-scale employment if given the right support.
“These sectors have the capacity to absorb labour from low-productivity areas and drive structural transformation,” the report said. “Together, they could generate up to 35 per cent (9.7 million) of the required new formal jobs, with manufacturing alone accounting for 21 per cent of projected job creation.”
The think tank also recommended the establishment of a National Jobs and Productivity Agenda aimed at improving labour efficiency and stimulating private-sector growth through data-driven policymaking and institutional collaboration.
It proposed a Nigeria Works Framework anchored on six strategic pillars:
- Skills for Productivity
- Sectoral Engines of Job Growth
- Enterprise-Led Growth
- Data
- Institutions and Accountability
- Productivity for Prosperity
The NESG concluded that achieving these goals will require strong political will, effective stakeholder engagement, and a sustained commitment to implementing structural reforms capable of transforming Nigeria’s labour and productivity landscape.
