Nigeria must urgently scale innovations that can reach people in underserved communities or risk turning its rapidly growing young population into a future social and economic crisis, the Nigerian Economic Summit Group has warned.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Tayo Aduloju, gave the warning on Wednesday in Abuja while speaking on the significance of gender and inclusion for Africa’s future ahead of the 2026 Gender and Inclusion Summit.
The summit, organised by the Policy Innovation Centre, is scheduled for September 7 to 9 in Abuja under the theme, “From Agenda to Action: Making Innovation Count for the Last Mile.”
Aduloju said the urgency was driven by the continent’s rapidly expanding young population, noting that Africa would have about 900 million people below the age of 35 by 2050.
He said Nigeria alone would account for about 320 million of the projected population, making the country’s ability to address poverty, education, healthcare and economic exclusion critical to Africa’s future.
