Nigeria can drive global economic growth — World Bank Director
The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Dr. Ndiame Diop, has said that Nigeria’s rapidly growing working-age population presents a unique opportunity for the country to become a key driver of global economic growth.
Dr. Diop stated this while delivering a lecture at the Distinguished Personality Lecture Series organized by the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ibadan, on Tuesday. The lecture, titled “Leveraging Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria: Key Considerations,” was chaired by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Senator Abubakar Bagudu, and held at Trenchard Hall.
According to Diop, Nigeria’s working-age population is expected to grow by about 100 million in the next 25 years, with approximately 5.5 million Nigerians entering the labor force each year. He noted that this demographic surge, if well-managed, could position Nigeria as a global growth hub, especially as other regions like East Asia and Europe face aging populations.
However, he emphasized that realizing this potential depends on Nigeria’s ability to create millions of productive, formal job opportunities for its increasingly educated and tech-savvy youth.
“In 2019, only about 8% of employed Nigerian youth were in formal jobs,” Diop noted, adding that African countries generally produce fewer formal jobs per GDP unit than other regions, contributing to widespread underemployment and poverty.
Diop said for Nigeria to achieve economic transformation, it must shift workers from low-productivity, low-paying informal jobs to more productive, higher-paying positions. He stressed the crucial role of agricultural transformation in this process, noting that agriculture remains the largest employer and has some of the lowest productivity levels in developing economies.
“Boosting agricultural productivity is essential for poverty reduction when at least one-third of the workforce is engaged in the sector,” he added.
Dr. Diop concluded by urging stakeholders to focus on policy reforms and strategic investments that support formal job creation, economic competitiveness, and sustainable development.
