How I intend to reduce Nigeria’s unemployment rate – Ezekwesili

In a press statement issued Friday in Abuja in reaction to the recent data released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), she warned Nigerians against voting for “candidates that have no idea of how to solve the challenges facing the country.”

The ACPN presidential candidate reiterated that no fewer than 80 million Nigerians would be lifted out of poverty by her administration.

She said that her administration would implement a productivity and competitiveness initiative that would create new opportunities and jobs in some key sectors.

Among the sectors are agriculture, fisheries, livestock, and
agribusiness where more than one-third of Nigeria’s active labour
population are found.

“There will be jobs from light manufacturing industries, construction, housing and public works, renewable solutions, services including trade, telecoms and technology, domestic tourism, and creative industries. These industries not only hold the key to putting more Nigerians to work but provides a much-needed boost to the nation’s productivity. Promoting and supporting these industries will occur through a mix of sound policies on trade, tax, infrastructure, skills, training, and research
and development,” Ezekwesili added.

She also said priority would be placed on building a rapidly expanding economy, which would be powered by the private sector based on an economic structural change agenda.

She said, “A majority of those operating in the economy are in the
informal, low productivity sectors. While previous governments have focused largely on the formal sector in their poverty reduction and ease of doing business schemes, the informal sector, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is over 60 per cent of the Nigerian economy ($240bn).

“Unable to tackle the factors which lead to informality, such as low
level of education, previous governments have chosen either to ignore the problem or militate against it. The informal sector also suffers low productivity due to high business costs which outstrip earnings.

“These barriers on them mean that those that work the hardest in our economies fail to earn a decent living. Investments in the formal sector over the last couple of years, while significant, have not yielded the kind of growth rates achieved by the informal sector, which grew at an annual average rate of about 8.5 per cent between 2015 and 2017, in comparison with the formal economy which grew by 0.8 per cent in 2017.

“However, increased informality, if unchecked, could lead to higher rates of poverty and inequality.”