Joy Agwunobi
Nigeria’s vast youth population, coupled with a fast-expanding technology-driven economy, has positioned the country on the threshold of becoming a digital talent powerhouse, according to a new analysis by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
But to convert that potential into prosperity, the Forum warns, Nigeria must act quickly by investing in skills transformation, reforming its education system, and building stronger collaboration between the public and private sectors.
In its latest insight titled “How Nigeria’s Youthful Population Could Help It Become a Digital Talent Powerhouse,” the Forum observed that Nigeria’s demographic advantage presents a rare opportunity to turn population growth into sustainable economic progress. With a median age of just 18.1 years and over half of its population under 30, Nigeria is one of the youngest countries in the world. Each year, around 3.5 million young Nigerians enter the labour market, forming one of the largest cohorts of new entrants to the global workforce.
At the same time, the country’s digital economy continues to surge. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributed nearly 20 percent to Nigeria’s real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2024 outpacing oil, agriculture, and manufacturing. For the WEF, this convergence of a youthful workforce and a digitising economy presents what it calls a “historic opportunity” to turn Nigeria’s demographic strength into an economic advantage. Yet, it cautions that the same force could become a liability if skills development does not keep pace with technological change.
Urgency of skills transformation
The WEF notes that technology is transforming the global world of work faster than most education systems can adapt. Findings from its Future of Jobs Report 2025 reveal that over 60 percent of workers worldwide will require reskilling or upskilling by 2027 as automation, artificial intelligence (AI), and the green economy reshape employment patterns.
For Nigeria, this challenge is particularly urgent. With its population projected to reach 400 million by 2050, the country faces one of the largest youth bulges in modern history. Yet youth unemployment remains persistently high, with around 23 percent of young Nigerians actively seeking work and another 32 percent not engaged in any form of employment.
Employers, meanwhile, continue to report significant skill mismatches especially in areas like coding, data analytics, robotics, design, and critical thinking. This disconnect, the Forum says, highlights a fundamental gap between educational outcomes and the evolving needs of the labour market.
Recognising the urgency, the WEF, in collaboration with the Nigerian government and the private sector, recently launched the Strategic Nigeria Talent Accelerator Roundtable, a platform designed to fast-track national workforce development. The initiative brings together leaders from the Federal Ministries of Industry, Trade and Investment; Education, and alongside private industry partners, to coordinate a national response to skills transformation.
The framework of the accelerator rests on three pillars: education reform for employability, industry alignment and talent export, and multi-stakeholder governance. Collectively, these are expected to create a sustainable system for equipping Nigeria’s workforce with the technical and digital skills needed to compete globally.
Timing Nigeria’s demographic dividend
Nigeria’s demographic outlook, according to WEF, is a double-edged sword, full of promise but fraught with risk. United Nations data project that the country’s working-age population will increase by more than 100 million people in the next 25 years. If properly harnessed through job creation and targeted skills development, this growth could produce one of the largest demographic dividends in the modern era.
However, the WEF warns that failure to generate productive employment for this expanding workforce could strain Nigeria’s social infrastructure. The risk, it notes, is that rising youth unemployment could trigger greater urban pressure, social unrest, and susceptibility to informal or illicit economic activities.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that Africa will need to create 68 million new jobs by 2030 to absorb its growing workforce with Nigeria accounting for about a quarter of that figure. The WEF therefore argues that the country’s approach to talent development must move beyond fragmented training schemes toward a unified national skills system, one that links education, enterprise, and employment under shared accountability.
High-growth sectors to drive the digital economy
The Forum’s report highlights several high-growth sectors that could anchor Nigeria’s digital transformation.
In digital services, surging global demand for software development, design, and business process outsourcing (BPO) could help Nigeria emerge as a regional talent hub. With its large English-speaking population and expanding broadband infrastructure, the country is well-positioned to attract outsourcing investments from multinational companies looking for skilled but affordable tech workers.
In agriculture, digital and technical skills could revolutionise productivity, modernising everything from supply chain logistics to precision farming. As Nigeria’s largest employer, the agricultural sector remains a prime candidate for digital integration, especially in areas like agritech, drone usage, and data-driven farming.
The Forum also identified renewable energy, green manufacturing, and smart industrialisation as critical growth frontiers. Targeted reskilling programmes in solar installation, robotics, and advanced manufacturing, it suggested, could create new categories of employment while positioning Nigeria as a major player in Africa’s clean energy transition.
To sustain this momentum, the Strategic Nigeria Talent Accelerator will also establish mechanisms to track real-time labour market data, encourage public-private training partnerships, and promote inclusive participation among women and rural youth ensuring that “no region or demographic is left behind.”
A roadmap for national transformation
WEF’s recommendations align closely with Nigeria’s ongoing policy efforts, particularly the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS 2020–2030) spearheaded by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. The policy aims to equip millions of Nigerians with digital literacy and entrepreneurial skills by the end of the decade.
Similarly, the National Talent Export Programme (NATEP), under the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, is targeting the training of 10 million young Nigerians in digital and technical skills through hybrid learning models and public-private partnerships. The WEF projects that such coordinated investments could reduce youth underemployment by 25 percent while increasing the digital economy’s contribution beyond its current 25 percent share of GDP.
The insight further suggests that with the right strategies, Nigeria could become a regional export hub for skilled professionals, supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Trade in Services, which promotes cross-border trade in digital and professional services.
“These skills transformation targets are ambitious but achievable with coordinated investment and accountability,” the Forum said, “Investing in human capital is the most resilient pathway to shared prosperity and Nigeria has both the scale and ambition to prove it.”
Ultimately, the Forum concluded that Nigeria’s success will not be defined by the size of its population, but by its ability to prepare its people for the digital future. The WEF adds, “the difference now lies in coordination, not capacity — and in action, not aspiration.”
In other words, the future of work is no longer a distant projection; it is already here. The countries that thrive will be those that anticipate and invest in the competencies that define tomorrow’s economy. For Nigeria, transforming demographic pressure into digital competitiveness could become its greatest national story, one that not only redefines its economic structure but also inspires a new model of African progress.
