NESG To Seek MSME Reform, Skills Development At 32nd NES

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has called for MSME reform and demand-aligned skills development as central strategies to tackle Nigeria’s unemployment crisis, ahead of the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit (NES #32), to be held on 26 and 27 October 2026 in Abuja.

According to the NESG, the NES #32 will address the disconnect between Nigeria’s economic growth and job creation, under the theme “Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity.”

The summit will feature a sub-theme titled “Work Nigeria,” which organisers say will place Nigeria’s labour market crisis at the centre of discussions.

According to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Nigeria’s population has surpassed 220 million, with nearly 70 per cent under 35.

The organisation said the country’s ability to create enough quality jobs to absorb the estimated three million young people entering the labour market yearly would determine whether the demographic profile becomes a dividend or a pressure point.

Citing data from the National Bureau of Statistics, the NESG said Nigeria’s labour market crisis was structural rather than cyclical, noting that positive GDP growth recorded over the past two decades had not translated into reduced unemployment and underemployment. It said sectors that have historically driven headline growth, including oil and gas, finance, and telecommunications, were not labour-intensive enough to meaningfully absorb the workforce, and called for a shift toward manufacturing, agro-processing, construction, creative industries, and the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) ecosystem.

Quoting the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), the NESG said MSMEs account for approximately 96 per cent of all businesses in Nigeria and nearly 84 per cent of total employment, but remain constrained by poor access to finance, high regulatory costs, infrastructure deficits in power and logistics, and the absence of a clear path from informal to formal operation. It described MSME formalisation as a jobs policy rather than a bureaucratic exercise.

The NESG also identified a mismatch between the skills produced by educational institutions and the competencies required by employers, saying NES #32 would prioritise demand-aligned skills development, including stronger industry-academia partnerships, expanded vocational and technical education, and digital literacy programmes.

Beyond job creation, the summit will examine the structure of Nigeria’s labour market, including job-matching systems, dispute resolution, skills portability, and protections for vulnerable workers, particularly women in informal employment. The NESG said strengthening labour market information systems, formalising apprenticeship models, and expanding social insurance coverage would be among the policy levers discussed.

The organisation called on the government to reform labour regulations and invest in enabling infrastructure, urged the private sector to hire and train at scale, and asked development partners and educational institutions to align their support with Nigeria’s employment priorities.

NES #32 is expected to bring together business leaders, policymakers, economists, and civil society representatives. The summit is convened by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, a private sector-led policy advocacy and think tank organisation that has facilitated public-private dialogue in Nigeria for over three decades.