‘Youth Unemployment Threatens Nigeria’s Future’, W/Bank, Youth Minister, IDA Champion Warn

Stakeholders at the African Foundational Week (AFW) Youth Week have raised concerns over Nigeria’s growing youth unemployment challenge, warning that millions of young people risked being left behind unless urgent action was taken to create jobs, bridge skills gaps and expand access to opportunities.

The event, held across six Central African countries including Nigeria under the theme, “Youth Works, Africa Thrives”, brought together government officials, development partners, youth advocates and entrepreneurs to discuss pathways to employment and economic inclusion.

Speaking with journalists on the sidelines of the event, a World Bank International Development Association (IDA) Youth Champion, Hassana Maina, described youth unemployment as one of the most pressing development issues facing Nigeria and the continent.

According to her, global projections indicated that about 1.2 billion young people will enter the labour market over the next decade, while significantly fewer jobs are expected to be created.

“The conversation was needed yesterday, not even today,” Maina said.

“How do we ensure that we are able to look at this development issue of our time and find solutions to it? We are already feeling the effects of unemployment and underemployment in Nigeria.”

She said the forum was designed to bring together policymakers, development partners, youth leaders and entrepreneurs to identify practical solutions to barriers confronting young people.

The youth ambassador noted that while access to finance remains a challenge, limited access to information, skills and networks continues to exclude many young Nigerians from available opportunities.

“Sometimes the problem is not just access to finance. Sometimes it is access to information. Some people do not even know these opportunities exist,” he said.

“We must democratise information so that people are able to participate and grow together.”

She explained that one of her responsibilities as an IDA Youth Champion was to amplify the voices of young people and ensure their concerns were reflected in policy and development discussions.

“My primary job is to bring focus to the problems young people are going through, provide solutions and spotlight the work being done through the International Development Association,” he said.

Maina stressed that youth representation remains critical because many issues affecting young people often go unheard due to lack of mentorship, sponsorship and access to decision-making spaces.

Also speaking at the event, World Bank Operations Manager for Nigeria, Taimur Samad, said the country’s labour market faces a widening gap between the number of young people seeking jobs and available employment opportunities.

According to him, World Bank analysis shows that approximately four million Nigerian youths enter the labour force every year, while only between 300,000 and 400,000 jobs were created annually.

“Whether it is 300,000, 400,000 or 500,000 jobs, there is still a massive gap between the number of youth entering the labour force every year and the number that have productive paid employment. That is scary for any society,” he said.

Samad warned that the growing employment deficit could threaten social and economic stability if left unaddressed.

“The pathway to prosperity for countries, and most importantly their youth, is employment in the private sector,” he said.

He disclosed that the World Bank’s new Country Partnership Framework for Nigeria places job creation at the centre of its development strategy, focusing on macroeconomic reforms, infrastructure, energy, digital connectivity, human capital development and skills acquisition.

Samad added that the Bank was working with government to develop a comprehensive skills development programme targeted at helping young people transition successfully into the labour market.

On his part, Nigeria’s Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, said unemployment among young Nigerians goes beyond job scarcity and is closely linked to skills mismatch, limited access to finance and changing economic realities.

“The future of our economy depends on young people,” the minister said.

Olawande noted that about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population is under the age of 35, making youth development central to national growth.

“The government cannot create jobs alone. We need partnerships with the private sector, development institutions and young people themselves to create opportunities,” he said.

He argued that academic qualifications alone are no longer sufficient in a rapidly evolving global economy.

“The certificate is not enough. What matters today is access to skills and access to opportunities,” he said.

The minister identified technology, agriculture, manufacturing, sports, entrepreneurship and the creative economy as key sectors capable of generating employment for young people.

According to him, access to finance remains one of the biggest barriers preventing young entrepreneurs from turning innovative ideas into successful businesses.

Adding a private sector perspective, music entrepreneur and Chocolate City co-founder, MI Abaga, said Nigeria’s creative industry has enormous potential to create jobs and compete globally if entrepreneurs are provided with adequate support and funding.

He described the global creative economy as a multi-trillion-dollar industry and urged young Africans to take advantage of opportunities in music, animation, film production, fashion, writing, advertising and digital content creation.

“Any sector in the creative economy presents an opportunity for young people to become global entrepreneurs,” he said.

Abaga, however, noted that many promising Nigerian businesses struggle to access funding because investors often assess them using standards developed in more advanced economies.

“The reality is that on the entrepreneur side, we are building the ecosystem. People are building things that are viable in a very difficult environment, and the resources and infrastructure need to do the work to reach where we are,” he said.

Drawing from his experience building Chocolate City label, Abaga said resilience remains one of the most valuable skills for young entrepreneurs.

He explained that many successful businesses emerge after years of setbacks and failed attempts, stressing that innovation ecosystems grow stronger when entrepreneurs are encouraged to experiment and learn from failure.

“Silicon Valley isn’t successful because of its successful companies. It’s successful because of thousands of businesses that have failed, which raised the level of learning across the ecosystem,” he said.

The AFW Youth Week discussions focused on practical solutions to youth unemployment, entrepreneurship, skills development, access to finance and the future of work, with participants calling for stronger collaboration among governments, development institutions and the private sector to unlock opportunities for Africa’s growing youth population.