… as Nigeria’s students in France increase by 283 percent
Education mobility holds immense potential to drive Nigeria’s economic growth by equipping young people with global skills, knowledge, and networks, the French Ambassador to Nigeria has said.
According to Marc Fonbaustier, the French envoy, deeper collaboration between Nigerian and international educational institutions can spur innovation, enhance workforce readiness, and contribute to the country’s long-term development goals.
“I just encourage Nigerian sons and daughters, your brothers, sisters, and everybody to travel and gain an experience abroad in a foreign country.
“It helps you to have a flexible mindset, to be adaptable, to be more creative, to look at foreigners as a source of inspiration. International mobility is probably the key for the future of your country,” he said.
Fonbaustier, speaking at the Lagos Business School forum recently, revealed that the number of Nigerian students in France has increased by 283 percent, which he described as good development.
He emphasised that Nigeria, and Africa as a whole is so much talent, but sometimes needs a bit of help.
“To scale up the priority, I think it should be expanding international mobility,” he said.
In 2023, Nigeria recorded an estimated 142,000 students studying abroad in 21 major destinations. According to the UNESCO Higher Education Global Trends Report, this accounts for five percent of the global outbound student population, ranking Nigeria third globally behind only China and India.
The surge trend continued in 2024 with an estimated 150,000 to over 200,000 students pursuing higher education abroad. Nigeria ranked fourth in the UK study visas as at September 2025, with 36,839 granted admission.
The trend of Nigerian students’ international education mobility continues to rise, even at the high school level. Some weeks ago, the British Council and Cambridge International Education presented 156 awards to outstanding learners and schools across the country.
Donna McGowan, British Council Nigeria country director, highlighted the fact that the Cambridge examination is a window to international education to the successful students.
Experts argue that international education mobility will help Nigeria bridge domestic capacity gaps by alleviating admissions bottlenecks and modernising local tertiary systems through global knowledge transfer.
It equips graduates with competitive, cross-cultural skills and creates vital diaspora networks that drive economic innovation, foreign remittances, and institutional reform back home.
According to World Education News+Revision, Nigeria will be one of the most important recruitment markets for international students in the next few decades.
“It is projected to become the world’s third most populous country by 2050 with about 377 million people, 53 percent of whom will be under the age of 25.”
This is much so because the Nigerian state cannot accommodate the country’s exploding demand for higher education, and this will be true for the foreseeable future.
The number of university students in the country has roughly tripled to about 2.2 million over the past two decades, a massive spike. But the number of high school students simultaneously grew at a much faster pace, to about 6 million, which means that the university system is stretched beyond its capacity to absorb overall demand.
For instance, in the 2025 UTME, a total of 2,007,312 candidates applied for admission across Nigerian tertiary institutions; out of this number, 998,268 applicants were not given admission.
Nigerians need a flexible mindset now more than ever in the face of terrorism, food insecurity, and a toxic political ecosystem, where citizens are torn along religious and tribal lines.
Nigeria faces an unprecedented hunger crisis driven by persistent conflict, climate shocks, massive displacement, soaring inflation, and systemic collapse of local food systems.
Nearly 35 million individuals face acute food insecurity, with vulnerable women and children bearing the heaviest burden of malnutrition across the nation.
Nigerian institutions cannot afford shy away from international collaborations in a world that is characterised by rapid technological change, economic uncertainty, shifting workforce dynamics, and increasing global interconnectedness. Partnerships have become more important than ever.
Looking ahead, the envoy said sustained investment in international education partnerships and mobility programmes would be crucial to developing the talent and innovation needed for Nigeria’s future.
He expressed confidence that deeper collaboration between Nigerian and French institutions would strengthen human capital development and support the country’s long-term economic aspirations.
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