80 million, Individual in Nigeria could lose their Jobs by 2030 – World Bank Reports
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According to the World Bank, if Nigeria does not increase its employment rate, 80 million people of working age will be without a full-time job by the year 2030.
It went on to say that if the poverty rate in Nigeria didn’t decrease, an additional 23 million people would be living in extreme poverty by the year 2030. In a report titled “Nigeria Development Update (December 2022): Nigeria’s Choice,” the international financial institution made the announcement.
It said that if the country wishes to alleviate poverty and boost economic change, it must first create better jobs.
The bank claims that the vast majority of Nigerians who live in poverty are actually employed; nevertheless, simply holding a job does not guarantee economic security. There was a finding that the impoverished are disproportionately represented in the agricultural workforce.
Nigeria was one of the strongest growth performers worldwide in the 2000s, according to the World Bank, but the country failed to develop institutions that might support structural reform and job creation.
According to the report, this has resulted in a decline in GDP per capita from US$2,280 in 2010 to US$2,097 in 2020 and an increase in the number of poor Nigerians from 68 million to nearly 80 million since the early 2010s.
Additionally, Nigeria is one of the world’s least developed countries, placing 160th out of 188 on the Human Development Index in 2021.
It predicted that unless the employment rate increased by 23 percent by 2030, “Per-capita income will stagnate,” and that 23 million additional Nigerians would be living in extreme poverty by then.
The Washington-based bank elaborated on the importance of this work by saying, “Creating better jobs is a necessary condition for speeding poverty reduction and economic development.”
A public sector-led economy cannot support the anticipated 3.5 million new Nigerian workers who enter the workforce annually. This massive figure accounts for 41% of all new entrants to the West African labor market.
Yet if other socioeconomic factors stay unaltered, Nigerian workers will not reap the full benefits even if job creation catches up with the growth of the labor force. Today’s Nigerian newborns are only 36% as productive as they could be as adults if they had access to more and better education and good health (the sixth-lowest percentage globally).
Young Nigerians are leaving the country in search of work because of “poor job growth, booming population, and unfulfilled aspirations.”
Since the private sector is at the heart of the development process and has been a critical component in every sustained growth success story around the world, the World Bank asserts that freeing up private investment will generate more and higher-quality jobs in a sustainable manner for the country.
World Bank stated, “The private sector is the main option for fostering job-enhancing growth in Nigeria, accounting for an estimated 90% of GDP and 94% of jobs.” Furthermore, “Thus, despite current challenges, Nigeria can still chart a sustainable and inclusive growth path based on sound economic institutions with a sound macroeconomic environment that reduces regional disparities, strong human capital that will help children reach their full potential and acquire the skills needed in a modern economy, and productive firms that create more and better jobs.”
