World Bank Highlights Nigeria’s Path to Inclusive Employment and Productivity

The World Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report on pathways to job creation in Africa (October 2025) indicated that Nigeria ranks highest among countries facing significant employment challenges. The report noted that only one in six workers in Sub-Saharan Africa holds a wage-paying job, compared to one in two in high-income countries.
Despite a projected increase of over 620 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa’s labour force between 2025 and 2050, a 1 percentage point rise in GDP growth yields only a 0.04 percentage point increase in wage employment. The data also revealed that 98 million Nigerians experience employment challenges, a figure significantly higher than the 72 million recorded for the Democratic Republic of Congo, 67 million for Ethiopia, and 40 million for Tanzania. High levels of underemployment and informality persist in Nigeria, driven by limited firm/business growth, reliance on self-employment, and weak labour bargaining power. The report emphasised that Africa’s growth trajectory remains positive but insufficiently inclusive.
To leverage Nigeria’s growing youth population, government policies must prioritise productivity-enhancing investments in education and skills development, strengthen infrastructure and access to finance, and translate firm growth into sustainable employment opportunities to ensure that economic expansion benefits a broader segment of the population. (Nigeria Economic Update Issue 42)