Young people under the age of 30 account for nearly 70 percent of the population of Africa, making it the world's youngest continent (United Nations 2021). While this trend provides exciting opportunities for enhancing creativity and innovation, it comes with a high burden, as the formal education system and apprenticeship programs cannot adequately prepare a large number of young people for the future of work. As a result, the continent may have a large share of youths without high quality jobs for their desired quality of life. The future remains bleak as projections show that the number of youths in Africa will increase by 42 percent by 2030 (United Nations, 2015), further indicating the need to close the youth skills gap on the continent in order to actualize improved employment.

Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country with over 200 million people and has the largest labor force in the continent (Macrotrends 2022; Global Business Service 2021). The most recent national labor force population survey shows that over 69.7 million Nigerians are within the working age group and are willing to work (NBS 2020a). Out of the 69.7 million people, over 42 percent of young people (aged 15-34 years) are unemployed (NBS 2020a). In this regard, Nigerians are found in the web of the informal economy, self-employment, and underemployment, which leaves many Nigerians, mostly youths, to experience vulnerable employment, poor working conditions, and high poverty (World Bank 2015). Indeed, in 2020, about a third of the youths (28.2 percent) were underemployed (NBS 2020a). Put together, Nigeria will need to deliver a large number of quality jobs for youths.

The manufacturing sector, which was long assumed to play a central role in generating considerable employment in Nigeria, has remained relatively stagnant over the years (Itaman and Awopegba 2021). Recent estimates show that the manufacturing sector accounts for less than 10 percent of the national gross domestic product (GDP), and as a result, it employs only a small cohort of the labor force (World Bank 2022a). Accordingly, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to formal sector employment has remained stagnant, averaging 11.4 percent between 2011 and 2021 (World Bank 2022a). The situation
is further worsened by minimal employment opportunities in the public sector (World Bank 2015). A considerable share of young Nigerians who graduate each year with a degree, certificate, or diploma seem to prefer working with the government due to the perceived job security; however, public sector jobs have been in short supply over the past two decades (World Bank 2015). On the other hand, the private sector, which has been active in creating jobs, has been unable to adequately absorb the large number of people entering the labormarket (World Bank 2019b)

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This report examines the potential for industries without smokestacks (IWOSS) in creating large-scale job opportunities in Nigeria, particularly for the young and female population subgroups. With the emergence of technology and shifts in the global economy, the relevance of some industries in economic development have increased. These industries are codified as IWOSS. IWOSS are sectors with higher labor productivity relative to traditional agriculture, and they are also tradable (Bhorat et al. 2020; Heitzig et al. forthcoming). These sectors include agro-processing, financial and business services, information and communications technology (ICT), tourism, formal trade, and transport. The emerging role of IWOSS is particularly important as evidence indicate This report examines the potential for industries without smokestacks (IWOSS) in creating large-scale job opportunities in Nigeria, particularly for the young and female population subgroups. With the emergence of technology and shifts in the global economy, the relevance of some industries in economic development have increased. These industries are codified as IWOSS. IWOSS are sectors with higher labor productivity relative to traditional agriculture, and they are also tradable (Bhorat et al. 2020; Heitzig et al. forthcoming). These sectors include agro-processing, financial and business services, information and communications technology (ICT), tourism, formal trade, and transport. The emerging role of IWOSS is particularly important as evidence indicates that the employment crisis and poor performance of manufacturing have become major concerns in Nigeria.

The study addresses the following questions: (i) What is the employment situation in Nigeria? (ii) What is the pattern of sector growth vis-a-vis performance of IWOSS and non-IWOSS sectors in Nigeria? (iii) What is the potential growth and labor demand of IWOSS sectors? The methods employed include an evaluation of sectors’ performance in terms of growth and wage employment, analyses of present and future levels of employment and productivity, and the use of a value-chain approach to assess employment creation potential and significant constraints. These approaches are complemented with a survey conducted between February and September of 2022 with firms selected from three IWOSS sectors.

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The original Industrial Revolution was powered by steam; the second by electricity. The rise of digitisation and automation generally defined the Third Industrial Revolution, which was largely powered by oil. Today, we find ourselves in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is largely powered and characterised by data. It can hardly be contested that data is central to today’s global economy in ways which it never has been before. Data flows across borders far more frequently than at any other point in time. Most importantly, these flows are creating or have created immense value (at least on aggregate) and are, therefore, central to businesses and business practices. They have fundamentally changed what and how much is traded, as well as with whom and how trade is conducted. Put differently, cross-border data flows have increased the scope, scale, and speed of trade.

Africa is quickly becoming the new data frontier in the face of continued increase in the deployment of digital technologies. A proportionate data governance ecosystem is, however, still lacking. The available governance ecosystem is characterised by a lack of relevant institutions or in most cases non-functional institutions for effective data governance implementation. As part of the bid to understand how to create a functional and responsible data governance ecosystem that can play a vital role in Africa's competitiveness in the global data economy, this report explored the questions; what are the institutional gaps impeding responsible and sustainable data governance in Africa and what are the peculiar institutional capacity needs of existing institutions? To answer these questions, we used a multidimensional research approach to study five African countries namely Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Mauritius and South Africa. In this study, we identified clear institutional gaps and capacity needs that require significant attention.

The fact is that indigenous firms are still struggling to manage resources to invest in basic IT infrastructure. Hence data analytics adoption, which requires both human personnel and technical infrastructure, is often yet to be strategically considered, shelved for the future, or even when outsourced, it is often poorly managed and under-resourced. Others are also driven by the visibility and immediacy of results or value, which is not a characteristic of data analytics. Data analytics often requires a more intentional strategic alignment to business processes, and otherwise, its value may not be realised.
Further, for innovation to occur, data analytics processes must be sustainable. It is often a long-term value realisation activity, which many indigenous firms tend to shy away from due to limited resources and understanding.
The report argues for the need to enhance data analytics use at the national and regional levels. It proposes fifteen recommendations for creating an all-inclusive enabling environment for indigenous businesses.

This Article was Authored by Prof. Richard Boateng