A study by General Electric has established that Nigeria’s young population can be put to better use.
The study, dubbed: Skills White Paper, is targeted at improving the capacity of Nigeria to harness the potential of its growing young population.
According to the White Paper, sub-Saharan Africa is estimated to be home to a quarter of people aged 24 and below by 2030, with Nigeria contributing the most significant number.
The document, with the title: ‘Building strong workforces to power Africa’s growth: The future of work in Africa’, identifies that Nigeria is unable to provide jobs and prospects to majority of its young and growing population, a situation which is buttressed by statistics putting youth employment at 50 per cent.
General Electric Nigeria’s President and Chief Executive Officer Lazarus Angbazo advised that this situation must change “because it condemns a large number of young people to low living standards and represents a terrible waste of human capital undermining future economic growth, but also because it poses a risk to social and economic stability”.
He said the country would reap enormous dividends from the opportunity that its human capital presents if it adequately engages this potential workforce.
Angbazo pointed out that achieving this would propel growth positively and engender prosperity amongs the people with families having more money to spend on education and health care.
To harness the opportunities the future presents, the GE boss said his company embarked on a thorough interrogation of the situation the country faces at the moment, and came out with recommendations in the Skills White Paper.
The steps recommended include: A stronger education system with deliberate emphasis on science, technology, education and mathematics; more open and flexible labour markets and a broader talent localisation strategy pursued in partnership with global companies; and exploring the pipeline of skills needed to leverage the technological advances of the future.
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