Harnessing The Elusive Demographic Dividend In Nigeria Through Improved Skills, Entrepreneurship Development And Labour Force Participation

Abstract

The age structure of Nigeria's population shows a rapidly growing youth population of 73 million in 2022. Nigeria's youthful population will increase to 94 million by 2030. The youthful surge can be harnessed for a demographic dividend through increased youth labour force participation in entrepreneurship. There are efforts to train and give youth entrepreneurship skills to function ef-fectively in the labour force. So, what effects do skills and entrepreneurial development have on youth labour force participation in Nigeria? The study surveyed youth aged 15-35 across Nigeria using quantitative and qualitative research approaches. A total of 2,396 questionnaires were com-pleted and retrieved. Also, the study held 12 FGDs comprising 96 participants and 12 key inform-ant interviews. The findings show that acquiring skills/entrepreneurial abilities is necessary to own a business but insufficient to grow a successful venture and create the employment required to im-pact the youth labour force. Youth with customer service skills tend to build a successful business (OR=1.40; CI=1.04, 1.89). The findings further indicate that technical skills in catering could re-sult in owning a business (OR=1.41; CI=1.08, 1.84), while ICT skills could lead to securing em-ployment (OR=1.38; CI=1.09, 1.76). The paper posits that increased capacity building among youth through skills and entrepreneurship will lead to more labour force participation and ultimate-ly result in a demographic dividend for the country. Policymakers and training institutions should deepen their training programmes on skills and entrepreneurship development programmes.