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With a population of 198 million people, growing at 3.2 percent, Nigerian experts are seeking the partnership of private sector players to harness the potential of the country’s demography.
Nigeria’s population is rising rapidly, characterised by young demography, but marred by high unemployment and dependency ratios that continue to slow economic growth and development.
To accelerate changes in the age structure of the Nigerian population and reduce the dependency ratio, experts want private sector partnerships targeted at investing in the youths to enable them reach their full potential.
Investments in good health and education are among the most significant factors in ensuring transformation from this demographic change, the experts say.
“The population of Nigeria is increasing rapidly and we need to control the size at which the population is increasing and improve our life expectancy. The government cannot do it alone; the development partners cannot do it alone ,” Sylvia Adebajo, country director, Population Council said at Nigeria’s first Private sector Conference on Demographic Dividend in Nigeria held yesterday in Lagos.
“We need to engage the private sector to contribute to the development of our human capital to achieve demographic dividend,” Adebajo said.
According to the experts, the barriers of the country’s demographic dividend start from the transition of the population.
“The shape of the population of any nation determines its level of development and demographic dividend is not automatic, it has to be planned for,” Osaretin Adonri, assistant representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) representing Diene Kieta, country representative, said.
“We must create the population structure that we want and that structure must be the one that has more of our population working than the percentage that is dependent.
“To be able to increase the population that is working and reduce the dependent population we must start from planning the population and that is where family planning is very important,” Adonri said.
Also speaking, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, head-sustainability, Access Bank said “Demographic dividend is a deliberate thing. It has to be planned, invested and harnessed.”
“The public sector and the private sector both have their roles to play. So it is important that there are collaborations to achieve demographic dividends,” Victor-Laniyan said.
“About 65 percent of our population are youths, they are the future so investing significantly in them while supporting them to maximise their potentials clearly would result in economic growth,” she added.
