Nigeria can become global economic growth driver, says World Bank

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Ndiame Diop, has said with the expected growth of Nigeria’s working population hitting about 100million in the next 25years, the rapid increase presents a unique opportunity for the country to become a major driver of economic growth.

Diop said the growth will surpass Africa and transcend globally considering the aging population in East Asia and Europe.

However, realising the potentials, he said, hinges on Nigeria’s ability to generate millions of additional productive and formal employment opportunities for its increasing educated and tech-savvy young people.

The World Bank boss spoke while delivering the distinguished personality lecture series, organised by the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, on Tuesday.

The lecture entitled “Leveraging Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria: Key Considerations”, held under the Chairmanship of the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu at the Trenchard Hall of the University.

Speaking, Dr Diop said Nigeria’s economy needs to not only grow at a faster pace but also undergo a transformation, noting that the transformation must accelerate the movement of workers from low productivity, low-paying and often informal jobs to more productive and higher-paying positions.

He highlights how agricultural transformation strengthens the overall competitiveness of the economy, drawing on economic theory and real-world examples to emphasize its vital role in successful economic transformation and the path to higher income levels.

Dr Diop said: “Nigeria faces a significant demographic shift: approximately 5.5 million Nigerians enter the labor force each year, and its working age population is expected to grow by about 100 million in the next 25 years.

“This rapid increase presents a unique opportunity for Nigeria to become a major driver of economic growth, not just in Africa, but globally, considering the aging populations in East Asia and Europe.

“However, realizing this potential hinges on Nigeria’s ability to generate millions additional productive and formal employment opportunities for increasingly educated and tech-savvy young people.

“Creating such a large number of quality jobs is a substantial challenge. In 2019, only about 8 percent of employed youth in Nigeria held formal jobs. Notably, African nations tend to create significantly fewer formal jobs per unit of GDP growth compared to other regions, generating roughly half the number seen in East Asia.

“This low proportion of workers in formal sectors, and the resulting dominance of informal, Iow productivity work, explains why securing employment in most African countries doesn’t guarantee an escape from poverty. In fact, in many African nations, including Nigeria, the majority of workers do not earn enough to reliably enter or remain in the middle class.”

He said to substantially improve employment outcomes, Nigeria’s economy needs to not only grow at a faster pace but also undergo a transformation. This transformation must accelerate the movement of workers from Iow- productivity, low-paying, and often informal jobs to more productive higher-paying positions.

“While individual worker or entrepreneur capabilities contribute to labor productivity, the reality is that average productivity levels vary considerably across sectors, with agriculture typically having the lowest levels in developing countries. When at least one-third of the workforce is engaged in agriculture, boosting agricult productivity becomes paramount for poverty reduction,” he said.