Nigeria faces youth employment crisis as ILO calls for urgent skills strategy

A new report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), titled Lifelong Learning and Skills for the Future, has revealed that 28.4% of Nigerian youths were neither in education, employment, or training (NEET) as of 2025. The findings underscore a critical need for targeted skills programmes to prevent a lost generation in Africa’s largest economy.

The report calls for a comprehensive, well-funded approach to vocational training involving governments, employers, and trade unions. For West Africa, the ILO argues that bridging the gap between informal experience and formal qualifications is essential to ensuring the transition to digital and green economies does not leave the workforce behind.

Integrating learning into economic strategy

The ILO urges governments to move lifelong learning from the margins of policy to the centre of national economic strategies. Drawing on worker surveys, vacancy trends, and 174 global studies, the report warns that digital automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and shifting demographics are rapidly redefining global labour markets.

“Lifelong learning is the bridge between today’s jobs and tomorrow’s opportunities,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo. He described it as a central element of any successful strategy for sustainable growth and development, warning that failure to strengthen inclusive learning systems risks deepening global inequalities.

Addressing the sub-Saharan digital divide

The report highlights a stark “digital divide” and structural fragmentation across sub-Saharan Africa. While digital literacy is rising globally, fewer than 25% of workers in the region report regular access to internet-based training. For the majority of the workforce in informal sectors, lifelong learning remains largely inaccessible.

Financing remains a primary barrier to progress. Public spending on vocational training in sub-Saharan Africa has seen a marginal increase of only 0.2% since 2021, remaining the lowest among all Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) regions. Globally, 63% of governments in low-income countries allocate less than 1% of their education budgets to adult learning.

Nigeria leads in digital skills innovation

Despite these hurdles, Nigeria stands out as a primary driver of digital skills acquisition on the continent, alongside South Africa and Kenya. The Nigerian tech ecosystem has sparked a surge in demand for non-formal coding bootcamps, which are increasingly filling the gaps left by traditional tertiary institutions.

Read also: AfDB, IFC, others, back African CEO Leadership Forum in Lagos

Regional integration is also providing a boost. Efforts by Ecowas to harmonise technical and vocational education and training (TVET) standards are facilitating greater labour mobility across West Africa. however, the ILO emphasises that a narrow focus on technical skills is no longer sufficient for the modern employer.

Shifting requirements for the green economy

Employers in emerging markets now increasingly seek “rounded” professionals, with socio-emotional skills such as teamwork and problem-solving accounting for up to 50% of requirements. Furthermore, AI literacy now demands critical thinking and digital fluency rather than specialist coding knowledge.

While the green economy now involves 32% of the global workforce, the ILO warns that these roles are only “decent jobs” if supported by fair wages and conditions. Currently, only 16% of people aged 15–64 participated in structured training in the year prior to the survey, highlighting a massive global gap in workforce readiness.