The youth population represents a vital force for economic growth and innovation. Comprising individuals transitioning from education to employment, they embody creativity, adaptability, and the potential for productivity gains. Over 50% of the global population is under 30, with youths aged 16 to 24 making up 16% of this demography. Nigeria’s case is rather peculiar having one of the youngest populations in the world with 70.6% of its population under the age of 30 and youths aged 16 to 24 representing 18.2% of its population according to the UNDP’s 2024 World Population Prospects. In Nigeria, where unemployment and underemployment rates among youths are alarmingly high, empowering this demography is essential for sustainable economic growth. Nigerian youths, despite their potential, face challenges that hinder their ability to contribute optimally to the economy. Highlighted below are some of these challenges: Inadequate Education: Less than 20% of undergraduate applicants gain admission to tertiary institutions. The curricula of these institutions do not equip young graduates with critical employability skills necessary for success in the workplace , leaving many graduates unprepared for the job market and exacerbating youth unemployment and underemployment. Economic Barriers: Nigeria’s current macroeconomic situation characterized by high interest rates, inflation and infrastructure deficiencies adversely affecting businesses has resulted in insufficient job creation and therefore fewer job opportunities for youths. Government including policymakers and regulators and the private sector, play crucial roles in addressing these challenges and creating a sustainable and viable economic environment for fostering youth development and empowerment as well as engendering increased job creation by entrepreneurs. Some strategic stakeholder interventions are proposed: Government: Prioritizing Education and Skills Development To address the challenges in education, the Nigerian government must invest in modernizing the curricula in tertiary institutions to include the relevant skills and trainings required in today’s world. Finland’s education system and Rwanda’s YouthConnekt initiative, which link young people with skills training and funding, provide examples of how targeted interventions can boost youth employability. Similar initiatives in Nigeria would help develop a workforce that is adaptable and capable of driving innovation. Private Sector: Fostering Innovation and Creating Opportunities The private sector must play a more active role in youth development through partnerships with educational institutions and the Government. Programmes like EnterpriseNGR’s Youth of Enterprise (YOE) Internship Programme are already making strides by placing over 2000 young Nigerians in high-value internships. Programmes like this focus on improving the employability of Nigerian youth. Regulators: Ensuring Fair Labor Practices Regulators must enforce laws that support youth employment and protect workers’ rights. In Denmark, labor laws ensure fair treatment and compensation which enable young workers to thrive. Nigeria can adopt similar practices to ensure that youths are paid fair wages and have access to job security. Empowering Nigerian youths for sustainable economic growth requires coordinated efforts from the Government, private sector, and regulators. By investing in education, fostering entrepreneurship that would lead to more job creation, and improving infrastructure, Nigeria can reduce youth unemployment and drive long-term economic growth. Our youth population is a key asset and leveraging their potential will certainly boost the country’s economic prosperity. EnterpriseNGR is a policy and advocacy group established to promote the Nigerian financial and professional services sector with the primary objective of catalysing economic transformation in Nigeria. One of our initiatives is the Youth of Enterprise (YOE) internship programme which focuses on improving the employability of the Nigerian youth by providing trainings on soft skills and placing them in internships with leading organisations.
Tag: Economic Growth
Lagos City Branding: Boosting Nigeria’s Economic Growth
To grow the domestic economy, nations, among other things, depend on inflows of investments, talent, and tourists from around the world. However, only a few locations are ranked in the top destination list of investors, tourists, and visitors despite the enormous social and economic asset base that nations possess. Most times, countries’ reputation poorly matches their actual position because of misrepresentation and lack of awareness by the global audience. Most of the countries that make it to the top destination lists have to leverage the power of destination branding to create a unique sense of place. Destination branding starts with the goal of developing a distinctive positive image of a location, leveraging dominant attributes like art, culture, lifestyle, value, history and heritage, natural and built environments, landmarks, and the economy that will appeal to the international audience and make the destination more desirable. Today, cities are branded like commercial products: numerous examples abound, from Paris to New York, Glasgow, and the Maldives to Mauritius. Paris, regarded as the world’s most romantic city and a haven for foodies and fashion lovers, leverages many factors, including fashion, art, sports, cultural movements, and iconic landmarks like the Eiffel Tower, Pont du Gard, near Marseille, Place de la Bourse, Bordeaux, Arc de Triomphe, Chateau de Versailles, and Notre-Dame de Paris to achieve a global destination status. This example illustrates how a city’s identity can be a powerful magnet, drawing people, businesses, and investments. New York leveraged the “Big Apple” moniker for a tourism campaign that transformed the city. In 1977, the city embarked on an advertising drive and embraced a campaign with the iconic logo, “I ♥ NY”. The campaign’s success resurrected the city’s image and breathed new life into a tarnished reputation. Also, the city’s significant infrastructure and vibrant financial sector, and arts and culture play a critical role in its larger-than-life reputation. Glasgow adopted a different city branding approach. The city embarked on a crowd-sourced brand identity — “People Make Glasgow” — inviting voices from around the world to shape its brand. The success of the campaign laid in both the slogan and active social media engagements. The “Great Campaign” refers to a series of marketing initiatives launched by the United Kingdom to promote the country’s strengths and assets on the global stage. These campaigns are aimed at attracting international business, tourism, investment, and talent to the UK. The campaigns highlight various aspects of the UK, such as its culture, education, innovation, creativity, and business opportunities. The campaign has been very successful to highlight Great Britain and Northern Ireland as an exciting destination. The Maldives became one of the world’s leading tourist destinations because the Island country recognized the importance of the tourism sector. In 2011, the Island launched a tagline “Maldives…Always Natural” to reflect its eco-friendly environment. In 2020, the Island rebranded to “Maldives…the Sunny Side of Life.” The campaigns carried the message of an Island with tropical paradise and hospitality. The country used them to showcase different aspects of destination experience, marine life, water sports, wellness and leisure, and high-end luxury private Island resorts. Like many other countries, Mauritius purposefully developed its tourism sector and embarked on local and international campaigns and fairs. Tourism now plays a key role in the country’s foreign direct investment, growth, and development. Destination branding is the hallmark of the investment attraction strategy of the tourism sector to promote the growth and development of the domestic economy. The travel and tourism sector is one of the largest economic sectors, contributing $7.7 trillion to the global economy in 2022; the sector’s contribution was projected to reach $9.5 trillion in 2023 and $15.5 trillion by 2033, representing 11.6 percent of the global economy.[1] The sector is responsible for one in 11 jobs globally, with a total employment of over 295 million as of 2022, and overseas visitors spent a total of $1.1 trillion. At the country level, the contribution of the travel and tourism sector is likewise outstanding. Based on the latest statistics from the World Bank, as of 2019, the number of arrivals in France was 217.9 million, 165.5 million in the US, 40.9 million in the UK, 22.3 million in the United Arab Emirates, 19.1 million in Singapore, and 14.8 in South Africa.[2] The impact of destination branding transcends the travel and tourism sector; successful destination branding benefits trade and investments, businesses, and other economic activities. It facilitates the competitiveness of a location, promoting higher perceived value for goods and services that favours businesses — some visitors and tourists do not shy away from paying a premium for products and services at the destination city. Cities in the Economist Intelligent Unit’s top ten most expensive cities list in 2023, including Singapore, New York, Hong Kong, Paris[3] equally have the highest number of tourists by arrivals. The opposite is also true; Tehran, Ahmedabad, Lagos, Chennai, and Buenos Aires, in the bottom ten positions of the list, are among the least visited cities. Famous cities attract other benefits, including preferred locations for businesses and headquarters of global corporations, high concentration of flow of goods and services by air, land, and sea transports, talent attraction, major global events, and global influence, among others. With many resources and opportunities to leverage, Lagos has the potential to tip the scale for Nigeria’s economic development, riding on destination branding and actively showcasing national strengths on the global stage. According to the World Population Review, Lagos with a population close to 17 million, is the largest city in Nigeria, 3rd and 14th largest in Africa and the world, respectively. The state has rapidly evolved into a pivotal economic and cultural hub in West Africa. Multinational companies span sectors such as banking, insurance, telecommunications, oil and gas, and professional services (accounting, consulting, and legal), and the dynamic business environment with a community of expatriates, establishing Lagos as Nigeria’s economic epicenter and commercial nerve centre. Some of the notable attractions in the city include one of the largest and busiest seaports in Africa,… Continue reading Lagos City Branding: Boosting Nigeria’s Economic Growth