Nigeria must create 27m jobs in 5 years or face 30% unemployment –NESG

From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has warned that Nigeria must create at least 27 million new formal jobs within the next five years or risk unemployment and underemployment soaring to 30 per cent.

The warning was issued in the group’s latest “Jobs and Productivity Report”, released at the 31st Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#31) in Abuja on Monday.

The report described the next five years as a make-or-break period for stabilising the country’s fragile labour market, with the working-age population projected to hit 168 million by 2030.

“The country faces a defining challenge: to create 27 million new formal jobs or risk unemployment and underemployment rates doubling to 30 per cent,” the report stated.

NESG identified deep-rooted challenges limiting job creation, including regulatory bottlenecks, infrastructure gaps, a weak private sector, skills mismatches, and an education system that fails to meet labour market demands.

It also highlighted the growing concern of jobless growth, where economic expansion fails to generate sufficient employment opportunities.

To reverse the trend, the organisation urged the government to prioritise sectors with high employment potential, including manufacturing (especially agro-processing), construction, ICT, and professional services, noting that these could collectively deliver 9.7 million jobs, or 35 per cent of the needed total. Manufacturing alone, it said, is expected to account for 21 per cent of all new jobs.

NESG stressed that success would depend on strong stakeholder collaboration, robust data systems, constant monitoring, and above all, political will to drive critical reforms.

The report also unveiled a “Nigeria Works Framework” anchored on six strategic pillars designed to boost productivity and employment: skills development, high-growth sectors, enterprise-led growth, data systems, strong institutions, and productivity-driven prosperity.

The group warned that without decisive intervention, rising unemployment could deepen poverty and further stall Nigeria’s long-term development.

“More urgent than ever, Nigeria needs a Jobs and Productivity Agenda to create decent jobs and raise productivity across the economy,” it stated.