Nearly half of Nigerian households hit by job, business losses in one year – Report

A new report by SBM Intelligence has revealed that nearly half of Nigerian households have faced job losses, business closures, or difficulty finding work within the past year. The survey, conducted in 21 cities across all six geopolitical zones, found that 45.3% of respondents experienced at least one economic shock during this period.

Additionally, 79.1% of respondents would consider relocating for better employment opportunities, highlighting the severity of the labour market pressure across the country. The report emphasizes that Nigeria's employment crisis varies significantly across regions, suggesting that a one-size-fits-all national jobs programme may not effectively address the underlying issues.

The Southeast's high rate of household shock is attributed to infrastructure, capital, and security pressures, such as disruptions caused by sit-at-home orders. Meanwhile, the Northwest and Northeast regions were more affected by skills shortages, with 26.8% and 22.9% of respondents, respectively, citing a lack of skills as a major barrier.

Discrimination also posed a significant challenge for young people in the South-South, with 33% of respondents citing factors like age, ethnicity, gender, and connections as reasons for difficulty in securing or retaining employment. The South-South region, despite being Nigeria's primary oil-producing area, showed that oil production has not led to widespread job creation, as local non-oil economies have failed to develop sufficiently to absorb the growing workforce.

The report recommends various interventions, including greater federal investment in inter-zonal economic corridors, a national digital skills infrastructure, improved credit access for small enterprises, and a national vocational qualification framework. However, the report acknowledges some limitations, such as the over-representation of urban and educated Nigerians in the survey and the need for better regional labour market data.

The organization argues that current credit programmes are not effectively reaching informal businesses and self-employed Nigerians, who constitute 34.1% of the survey respondents. The report aims to achieve an annual average of 4.55 million net new jobs, described as both "ambitious and indispensable" for inclusive economic growth and social stability.