THE Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has cautioned that Nigeria risks facing an unemployment rate of up to 30 percent by 2030 unless at least 27 million new formal jobs are created within the next five years.
This warning was contained in the NESG’s Jobs and Productivity Report, released yesterday ahead of the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#31) in Abuja.
According to the report, Nigeria’s working-age population is projected to reach 168 million by 2030, putting immense pressure on the economy to generate sustainable and high-quality employment opportunities.
“Jobs and productivity are central to Nigeria’s economic development,” the report stated, emphasizing that 27 million formal jobs must be created to absorb new entrants into the labour market and transition millions currently in informal, low-income work.
The group identified key obstacles to large-scale job creation, including weak private sector growth, skill mismatches, poor education outcomes, high informality, and jobless economic expansion that fails to translate into employment.
Other challenges highlighted include regulatory bottlenecks, poor infrastructure, and low business competitiveness—factors that continue to limit private-sector capacity for expansion and job generation.
To reverse this trend, the NESG called for coordinated reforms across government and industry, pinpointing manufacturing, agriculture, digital technology, construction, and professional services as sectors with high employment potential if adequately supported.
“These sectors can absorb labour from low-productivity areas and drive Nigeria’s structural transformation,” the report added, noting that they could account for up to 35 percent—or 9.7 million—of the new jobs needed, with manufacturing alone contributing around 21 percent.
The NESG further proposed a National Jobs and Productivity Agenda anchored on a “Nigeria Works Framework,” built around six pillars: Skills for Productivity, Sectoral Engines of Job Growth, Enterprise-Led Growth, Data, Institutions and Accountability, and Productivity for Prosperity.
It concluded that meaningful progress will require political will, strong collaboration among stakeholders, effective monitoring, and a sustained commitment to structural reforms aimed at stimulating private-sector-led growth.