The Employability Summit, a high-level dialogue that seeks to address employment challenges in Nigeria, will take on youth unemployment at its inaugural edition to be hosted by PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday, organisers said.

The initiative is assembling thought leaders from the public and private sectors, academia, and civil society discussions on how Africa’s most populous nation could leverage its exploding youth population as a strength to drive productivity and creativity on a wide scale.

Titled “Converting Nigeria’s Demography into Assets,” the conference plans to feature panel discussions, keynote speeches, fireside chats and plenary sessions.

PREMIUM TIMES is partnering with Business School Netherlands, 7 Up and The SME Scale Up, a platform that is committed to tackling unemployment and reducing the rate of small business failure in Nigeria, to hold the event.

“The summit explores critical areas such as skills development, workforce readiness, vocational training, entrepreneurship, digital innovation, and cross-sector collaboration,” the organisers stated.

Nigerians aged 30 and under, the demographic group that the summit is focusing on, constitute more than 60 per cent of its population, estimated at 227.9 million by the World Bank.

Nigeria’s latest labour statistics show that the youth unemployment rate declined to 6.5 per cent in the second quarter of last year from 8.4 per cent in the preceding quarter. The overall unemployment rate for the country within the period stood at 4.3 per cent, a percentage lower than that of the first quarter, even though the metrics for measuring those indicators have been subjects of debated.

The current methodology for calculating unemployment data remains largely controversial after the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) altered the former computation structure in August 2023 to make the process align “with international best practices.”

Unemployment rate fell substantially to a record 4.1 per cent following the overhaul, compared to 33.3 per cent in Q4 2020, the last quarterly unemployment data to be released by the NBS before the new procedure was adopted.

Analysts say the current methodology does not reflect a true picture of joblessness in the country, adding that a large part of the populace remains poor despite the significantly low unemployment rate.

The event will feature a powerful line-up of speakers and panelists, including Niyi Yusuf, the Chairman, Nigerian Economic Summit Group; Ziad Maalouf, Managing Director, 7Up Bottling Company; Uyi Akpata – Immediate Past Country Partner, PwC Nigeria; Michael Ikpoki, Chief Executive Officer, Africa Context Advisory Partners; Esiri Agbeyi, Partner and Africa Family Business Leader, PwC Nigeria.

Other speakers include Obi Asika, Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC); Oludare Odusanya, General Manager, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation; Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Rise Networks & Interactive Studios Africa; Kelechi Abiri, Founder, Reposebay Human Resource Limited; Prof Lere Baale, Chief Executive Officer, Business School Netherlands and Lara Yeku, Divisional Director/Head, HR Food Commercial Division, Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.

Others are Nneka Eneli, Director, Workforce Outsourcing; Samira Bello, Chief Executive Officer, Aadun & Co.; and Oladeinde Olawoyin, the Business, Energy and Economy Editor of Premium Times.