Nigeria needs 19 million jobs yearly, investment needed for economic growth- Salami
By Modupe Shodeinde
The Chairman of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Prof. Doyin Salami has stated that to solve the problem of unemployment in the country, there is a need to create 19 million job every year.
Salami said this at a webinar on privatisation organised by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, in collaboration with the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council on Tuesday.
He pointed out that the rate of underemployment and unemployment in the Nigerian labour force stood at around 54 per cent.
According to him, more than half of Nigeria’s labour force is either unemployed or underemployed.
“Now if we are going to remedy this, Nigeria needs to be creating roughly 19 million jobs. If we are going to do that, it cannot be the responsibility of the government sector. The whole revenue profile of the government sector in Nigeria, federal and state, is somewhere around 10 per cent.” he said .
He also stated that Nigeria’s economic challenge is a very severe one and to enhance economic growth, investment is greatly needed.
He noted that the economy hasn’t performed well and so far this year there has been a contraction in the economy with the prospect that it will continue to contract this year.
Nigeria currently has an investment to GDP ratio of between 15 to 18 per cent, and if progress is to be made, “an investment to GDP ratio that does not fall at any time perhaps over the next decade below 25 to 30 percent” is needed.
He stressed the need for the country to generate investment levels that could support growth that must exceed the rate of growth of population, currently estimated at about 3.2 per cent.
Emphasizing on how investment is a necessary catalyst for enhancing economic growth in Nigeria, he said “If Nigeria’s economy is going to grow, investment is going to be at the heart of that growth.”
