The N70,000 national minimum wage announced by the Nigerian government on Thursday is still the lowest among top 10 African economies.
The federal government announced N70,000 as the new minimum wage after months of negotiations with the labour unions.
The labour unions have also accepted the new minimum wage with the condition that it will be reviewed after three years.
However, BusinessDay findings showed that Nigeria, the fourth largest economy in Africa, has the lowest national minimum wage among its peers despite upward review from N30,000 ($20 converted at N1,500/$) to N70,000 ($46.6), representing 133% increase.
The recent report by SBM Intelligence, which compared monthly salaries of leaders in African top ten economies with their countries’ minimum wage, showed that Nigeria’s president earns N8,625,000 monthly ($5,750 converted at N1,500/$), which is 123 times higher than the country’s new minimum wage.
Morocco, Africa’s sixth largest economy, has the highest monthly minimum wage of $285.61, equivalent to N428,415. This means that Morocco’s monthly minimum wage is 6 times higher than Nigeria’s minimum wage.
Here’s the full list of the minimum wage in the top ten African economies and their leaders’ monthly salaries below.
Nigeria is currently contending with a record high inflation rate at 34.19 per cent in June 2024 due to the two-time devaluation of the naira and removal of petrol subsidy.
The inflationary trends have raised Nigeria’s interest rates by a combined 750 basis points from 18.75 per cent last July to 26.25 per cent in May as the central bank continues to deploy monetary tools to restore the battered economy.
Prices of food, cost of energy and transportation have skyrocketed in the last one year, making life difficult for the masses.
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