BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY'S RELATIONSHIP WITH SDG 8

As Africa’s most populous country, home to over 239 million people in 2026, Nigeria plays a crucial role in the global achievement of SDG 8 (McKenna, n.d.). As a sign of commitment to the UN's 2030 Agenda, Nigeria recently integrated the SDGs into various national and sub-national development frameworks, such as the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, the Medium-term National Development Plan, and the Nigeria Agenda 2050 (Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs [OSSAP-SDGs], 2025, p. 4). As Nigeria’s young population continues to grow, the country faces enormous potential for growth and is poised to seize a powerful demographic dividend in the future (World Bank, 2025, p. 23). However, Nigeria is currently struggling to leverage its vast workforce effectively, as the overwhelming majority of the population continues to work in low-productivity jobs within the informal economy, while more than half of all Nigerians continue to live in poverty (World Bank, 2024, pp. 11-12). 

CURRENT CHALLENGES AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS

Nigeria’s central challenge to achieving economic growth and decent work for all is its shortage of productive employment. Although most Nigerians work, with the country’s employment rate reaching 76.6% in the first quarter of 2023, a striking 92.6% of Nigeria’s workforce was still involved in the informal economy during the same year (National Bureau of Statistics, 2023, pp. 14, 28). Informal employment does not provide sufficient protection to workers, making them particularly vulnerable during periods of economic downturn, and it often fails to provide high enough earnings to escape poverty, as more than half of Nigeria’s population continues to live in poverty despite the country’s relatively high employment rate (OSSAP-SDGs, 2025, p. 29; World Bank, 2024, pp. 9-10). As stressed by the World Bank (2024) in its 2024 development update, low incomes are symptomatic of low-productivity jobs, signalling a lack of occupational opportunities in Nigeria beyond traditional jobs in agriculture and in relatively unproductive services such as retail and wholesale trade (p. 10). Therefore, it is essential for Nigeria to foster job creation in more productive economic sectors to accelerate its economic development and extend access to decent work to all Nigerians (World Bank, 2025, p. 25).

To address the lack of productive employment opportunities and the enormous size of its informal economy, Nigeria has recently launched several national programmes aimed at creating new jobs outside of the informal sector and upskilling Nigeria’s workforce, such as the National Development Programme for the period 2021-2025 and the GROW Nigerian initiative (OSSAP-SDGs, 2025, p. 30). Moreover, the Nigerian government has recently moved to expand social protection to informal economy workers in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (International Labour Organization, 2025). Although such initiatives represent a step in the right direction, it is critical to diversify the Nigerian economy and to promote the development of productive jobs while investing more aggressively in accessible education and training, so that the rapidly growing youth population will have the opportunity to apply their labour productively in the near future, fuelling inclusive economic growth that can ensure the achievement of SDG 8’s targets (World Bank, 2025, p. 25).

Another concerning issue for Nigeria is the tragic persistence of child labour. Up to 15 million children under the age of 14 were estimated to be working in 2025, often in hazardous conditions and most commonly across rural areas (OSSAP-SDGs, 2025, p. 31). Nigeria is currently working with several international organisations to improve monitoring and law enforcement against child labour, most notably with the International Labour Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. However, stronger enforcement of child protection laws alongside investments in education and social welfare is essential to eradicate child labour as soon as possible (OSSAP-SDGs, 2025, p. 31).

Finally, Nigeria’s enormous youth population represents both an opportunity and a significant challenge, as many young Nigerians will enter the workforce over the coming years. Such an increase in the labour supply has the potential to boost Nigeria’s economic growth and development to an extent never before been seen in the country, provided that Nigeria invests significantly in the human capital of its youth and fosters the creation of high-productivity jobs (World Bank, 2025, pp. 23-24). Nigeria continues to spend too little on development priorities, as public expenditure in education represented just 1.1% of Nigeria’s GDP in 2025, barely surpassing the country’s defence spending. Failing to provide sufficient opportunities for Nigeria’s youth risks trapping the country in a steady, long-term economic decline, as the economy’s low productivity prevents it from growing fast enough to sustain its increasing population, making the country increasingly fragile and damaging social cohesion within Nigerian society (World Bank, 2025, p. 23).

LIST OF REFERENCES AND USEFUL LINKS

International Labour Organization. (2025, December 8). Nigeria Moves to Expand Social Protection to Informal Economy Workers. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.ilo.org/resource/news/nigeria-moves-expand-social-protection-informal-economy-workers

McKenna, A. (n.d.). List of African countries by population. Britannica. Retrieved September 7, 2026, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-African-countries-by-population

National Bureau of Statistics. (2023). Nigeria Labour Force Statistics Report: Q4 2022 & Q1 2023. https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary/read/1241365

Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs. (2025). Nigeria’s Third Voluntary National Review: A whole-of-Society Perspective on the Sustainable Development Goals. United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. https://hlpf.un.org/sites/default/files/vnrs/2025/VNR%202025%20Nigeria%20Report.pdf

World Bank. (2024). Nigeria Development Update - October 2024: Staying the course: Progress amid pressing challenges (Report No. 194155). https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/099101624100574290/pdf/P502989-76dd5e27-3b7a-492b-8e9c-be0acefcb58e.pdf

World Bank. (2025). Nigeria Development Update - May 2025: Building Momentum for Inclusive Growth. https://doi.org/10.1596/43315