How do you prepare millions of young people for an economy that cannot provide enough salaried jobs?
Over the past two decades, university enrolment in Nigeria has risen from roughly 448,000 students in the 1999/2000 academic session to more than 2.15 million in 2019.
For generations, higher education has been viewed as a pathway to better economic prospects. A degree could open the door to professional, white-collar and salaried employment and, ultimately, a more stable middle-class life.
But Nigeria’s labour market cannot absorb most workers into formal, salaried employment. In Q1 2024, 92.7% of employed Nigerians were in informal employment and about 84% were self-employed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Originally published by TechCabal.