Nigeria’s Unemployment Problem Is Really a Productivity Problem
Nigeria does not simply have a shortage of work. It has a shortage of productive work. Looking beyond the headline unemployment rate reveals an economy dominated by informal employment, self-employment, underemployment and jobs that often generate too little income to materially improve living standards.
ET&A Research · 12 August 2026

Nigeria’s unemployment debate often begins with a deceptively simple question: how many Nigerians have jobs?
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