Policy highlights:

  • As Nigeria’s youth population grows, so does its unemployment rate. Of the unemployed youth (over 11 million) the majority is female and/or lives in rural areas.
  • Several factors contribute to this prevalence of youth unemployment in Nigeria: 1) high population growth rate, 2) deficient school curricula and teacher training, 3) deficient infrastructure in rural areas, 4) lack of vibrant industry to absorb competent graduates, 5) flawed and inconsistent public policies on employment, and 6) inadequate information for policy makers.
  • Many programs aimed at creating opportunities for youth employment have failed. To ensure better outcomes in the future, policy makers should: 1) supplement well-targeted training with loans / financial support; 2) invest in transparent organizational structure and coherent strategy; 3) taking a more comprehensive, less ad-hoc approach that not only targets youth, but also looks at education, labor market issues etc.; 4) address factors that limit the demand for labor, including infrastructure and industrial expansion
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