Nigeria has the largest population of all African countries. It is also very youthful: 27% of the country’s 206 million inhabitants are 15 to 29 years old. However, two thirds of young people are unemployed or underemployed, and most work informally. Economic growth has not resulted in sufficient decent job creation, and young people’s skills often do not match the jobs that are available.
The digital economy presents opportunities for job creation, economic growth and productivity. Nigeria is already home to some of the largest tech hubs on the continent and has the largest e-commerce market in Africa. The country’s ICT sector has steadily grown, even during the pandemic.
With access to digital skills, markets, networks, finance, information and representation, youth in Nigeria will both benefit from and contribute to their country’s digital transformation and development.
In Nigeria, we are working closely with the Nigerian SDGs Youth Network, a coalition of youth led civil society organizations. We are supporting them to implement their Skills for Employment Programme, an initiative to equip youth with digital skills and place them in internships with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the digital space.
In Nigeria, we are launching a National Innovation Challenge for Decent Digital Jobs to identify youth-led organisations that will partner with us to provide business development services to youth and stimulate job creation in the digital economy.
To find more information about our project in Nigeria check out the country brochure!
