Agriculture, Services, Others Are Key Drivers Of Youth Employment-Report

The Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) in partnership with the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) have launched a report which details key sectors that drive youth employment in Nigeria.

The report which was launched in Abuja was tagged “Sectoral Development: Assessing the Conditions that Drive Youth Employment in Key Sectors of the Nigerian Economy,”.

While Presenting the Outcomes of the Research, the Lead at the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Dr Sarah Edore said employment in the industry, construction and services sector positively influence male employment. While in contrast, marital status, remittances, and employment in the trade sector influenced female employment.

Edore said key findings of the report also shows that “Youth employment was higher in rural areas as compared to the urban areas. The situation may be attributed to the dominance of the agriculture sector in rural areas that tend to employable bodies youths to field activities. Aside from Agriculture, rural youths often engage in construction and home enterprises “It further stated”.

The report highlighted also that the financial services sector served as the highest Contributor to employment while the manufacturing sector remains the lowest as “the moderate employment elasticities sectors include utilities, trade, accommodation and food services activities, information and communication, administration and support services, professional, scientific and technical activities and social work activities,”

It added that “Among the 12 sectors factored in, manufacturing, mining and agriculture remain the lowest Contributor to youth employment in Nigeria,”

In its recommendations, the report stated that “To promote start-ups, it is crucial to facilitate access to capital for businesses, especially for those who have undergone a form of entrepreneurial training in any of these sectors.

The report further recommended that the “Government should build and improve existing infrastructure in terms of logistics, communications, power and water to increase supply chain efficiency. These can be set up at various strategic locations, especially those close to production, trade and industrial clusters.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Laoye Jaiyeola quoted the NBS as saying 63 per cent of Nigerians aged between 15 to 34 years old – roughly half of the Nigerian labour force – are either unemployed or working below their education, skills, and capability level in 2020.

According to him, “The youth unemployment situation is adjudged to have resulted in the high incidence of young people’s involvement in social vices such as militancy, kidnapping, political thuggery, armed robbery, prostitution and other forms of unproductive activities

“Therefore, this study, like many NESG research reports and briefs on job creation and youth employment, used a sectoral approach to investigating the issue of youth employment in Nigeria.

“Therefore, this study, like many NESG research reports and briefs on job creation and youth employment, used a sectoral approach to investigating the issue of youth employment in Nigeria,” he further explained.