Converting Nigeria's Demography into Assets: Employability Summit 2025

Strategic Insights -

The maiden edition of the PREMIUM TIMES Employability Summit 2025 brought together stakeholders from government, business, academia, and civil society to deliberate on practical solutions to Nigeria's persistent employment challenges, particularly among young people. The summit was held in Lagos and themed "Converting Nigeria's Demography into Assets." According to the World Bank, Nigerians aged 30 and under comprise over 60 percent of the country's estimated population of 227.9 million.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Chairman, Niyi Yusuf, emphasized the need for a multi-stakeholder approach to tackling unemployment, prioritizing human capital development in national planning, and collaboration between the government, academia, and private sector to expand job opportunities and build skills.
  • Over 16,000 active job seekers are currently registered in Lagos State, with the Director of Employment, Shitta Oluwagbemilola, calling on the private sector to create more internship placements and mentorship opportunities to complement government efforts.
  • The "Ready Set Work" initiative, a collaboration between PwC Nigeria and the Lagos State Government, successfully transitioned interns into full-time roles.
  • Using the Seven Up Bottling Company (SBC) mentorship model as a case study, the Managing Director, Ziad Maalouf, highlighted the importance of intentional mentoring and workplace inclusion in empowering employees to take on leadership roles.
  • The CEO of Africa Context Advisory Partners, Michael Ikpoki, emphasized the need for knowledge transfer and leadership to listen to employees, as good leaders are not often the smartest people but rather those who harness the talents of their subordinates.
  • The Chief Executive Officer of Business School Netherlands International, Lere Baale, outlined ten action points for employers to manage generational diversity, including reverse mentoring programmes, blending learning in staff training, and avoiding age-based stereotyping.
  • Four panel sessions were held during the summit, focusing on opportunities in the creative economy, agriculture, artificial intelligence, and cross-generational workforce dynamics.

Statistics:

  • Over 60 percent of Nigeria's population is aged 30 and under, consisting of approximately 136.5 million people (World Bank estimate).
  • Nigerians aged 30 and under comprise 227.9 million people, who are the largest age group in the country.
  • 6.5 percent of young Nigerians are unemployed, according to the latest labor data from the National Bureau of Statistics (Q2 2023).
  • Over 16,000 active job seekers are currently registered in Lagos State.

Sources:

  • World Bank (statistics on Nigeria's population)
  • PREMIUM TIMES (Employability Summit 2025)
  • Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Chairman, Niyi Yusuf (speech)
  • Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF)
  • Business School Netherlands International (Lere Baale's presentation)
  • National Bureau of Statistics (labor data, Q2 2023)