Nigeria’s education system is producing more qualifications than market-ready skills. It is expanding the number of people passing through schools and universities, but the skills emerging from the system are not yet keeping pace with what a changing labour market needs, from foundational literacy and numeracy to digital, analytical, technical and entrepreneurial capabilities.
That mismatch is becoming an economic problem. Nigeria needs workers who can analyse data, build financial and economic models, develop software, use artificial intelligence, solve business problems and create new enterprises, yet weaknesses in learning and skills development mean education is not consistently translating into productive employment, higher earnings and stronger productivity. This places the country’s progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4, particularly its target on relevant skills for employment, decent work and entrepreneurship, under pressure.
The World Bank’s latest human-capital assessment puts the scale of the problem in stark terms. Nigeria’s deficits in nutrition, education and workforce skills are estimated to amount to 111 percent of future labour earnings. The assessment also gives Nigeria an education score of 64, compared with a median of 88 for lower-middle-income countries. Tertiary completion is 11.3 percent, above the sub-Saharan African average of 10.5 percent but below the 17.6 percent average for lower-middle-income countries.
