By Chinwendu Obienyi
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, there are positive indications for job growth as well as employment opportunities across multiple sectors by the end of this month, the latest Business Expectations Survey (BES) report by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed.
The Business Expectations Survey (BES) is a monthly survey of leading firms drawn from Business Establishment updated frames of CBN and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), providing advance indication of change in the overall business activity in the economy.
According to the apex bank, the January 2025 Business Expectations Survey (BES) was conducted from January 13 to 17, 2025 with a sample size of 1,900 business enterprises across Nigeria and the survey achieved a response rate of 99.7 per cent, covering three key sectors: Industry, Services, and Agriculture.
Whilst noting that the overall confidence index (CI) on the macro-economy indicated that businesses were optimistic in January 2025, the apex bank stated that economic activities expanded for the second consecutive month.
This ongoing expansion suggests that the positive employment outlook from the January 2025 survey may be materializing, leading to respondents expressing optimism on volume of business activity for the next month and subsequent periods under review.
The survey said, “In line with the favorable expectations, businesses hope to employ more workers in the month of February 2025”.
It revealed that all the sectors expressed optimism in January 2025, with the Industry Sector recording the highest optimism while the Agriculture Sector indicated the highest expansion plan for February 2025.
“Respondent firms expect the Naira to appreciate across all the reviewed periods”, It added.
While the survey indicates potential for job growth, it is important to note that Nigeria has faced significant employment challenges in recent years.
The country has experienced an annual job deficit of over 2.5 million, with unemployment rates rising from 6.4 per cent at the end of 2014 to 23.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2018. Furthermore the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges.
To address these employment gaps, the FG launched initiatives such as the 3 Million Technical Talent program, which aims to create a pool of skilled technical talent and generate 2 million digital jobs by the end of the year.
These efforts, combined with the positive business outlook, may contribute to bridging employment gaps in the coming months.