• Nigeria faces widening gap between training and job market

• NACCIMA says graduates lack industry-relevant, job-ready skills

• Informal work dominates; youth unemployment and emigration concerns rise

Nigeria's gap between workforce training and employment is widening, the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) said at a TVET summit held last week in Lagos.

The gathering brought together private sector actors, development partners and regulators around a common assessment: the training system is producing graduates that industry cannot absorb, participants said.

NACCIMA Vice President Michael Olawale-Cole described a labour market where a large share of the workforce is in informal and precarious employment. He stressed the central role of the private sector in setting industry standards, designing curricula and financing apprenticeships.

Abdul Rasheed Na'Allah, chairman of NACCIMA's education committee, pointed to the gap between existing frameworks and how they are implemented in practice. Instruments such as the National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) "have not yet delivered job-ready skills at scale," he said.

Britta Van Erckelens, representing development partners through the SKYE programme, said skills development cannot rely on public institutions alone.

A fragile labour market despite ambitious targets

Nigeria is targeting a $1 trillion economy by 2030, according to NACCIMA, but its labour market remains fragile.

The National Bureau of Statistics said informal employment accounted for 93.5% of total employment in the second quarter of 2024. It also reported that 14.4% of people aged 15 to 24 were neither in employment, education nor training.

Due to a shortage of qualified local workers, some sectors such as construction are turning to foreign labour, Olawale-Cole said. The Federal Ministry of Education has acknowledged that Nigeria relies heavily on imported skilled labour.

The summit comes amid mounting warning signs about youth employability. Nigeria ranked 172nd out of 183 countries in the Commonwealth's 2023 Global Youth Development Index, near the bottom for youth employment and opportunities.

In 2025, enrolment in technical colleges rose by 287%, from 7,546 to 29,260 candidates, according to the National Business and Technical Examinations Board. However, the body highlighted a shortage of qualified teachers, a lack of equipment and persistent bias against technical education.

An Afrobarometer survey conducted in 2024 found that roughly six in 10 young Nigerians were considering emigrating, mainly to escape unemployment and precarious work. The summit ended with strong declarations, but the real test will be implementation.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou