Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode has given insight into how Nigeria can revamp its economy and stimulate growth.
The governor, who has been commended far and wide for his developmental strides in Lagos, identified job creation as a strong driver of national economic growth and tasked banks in the country to drive the process.
He made this known in a keynote address delivered at the 9th Annual Bankers’ Committee Retreat of the Central Bank of Nigeria which held in Ikeja on Saturday.
He said that to acce her growth potential, Nigeria must generate four million jobs annually.
The governor said, “To meet our growth ambitions we need jobs. Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in employment terms, from a labour force population of about 81million people, we currently have 11.5million people unemployed in Nigeria and 17million people under-employed with the total employment is around 52.6million while the working age population grows by 3.7 per cent every year. So, to make a meaningful dent on un-employment and underemployment, and to reduce poverty (which is at over 60 per cent), we need to be creating at least four million jobs per year.
“Where do banks fit into all of this? Well, the reality is if we do not have a well-functioning banking sector, all of this is not possible. Both investment and day-to-day commerce requires the intermediation of banks. And while someone outside of the formal financial sector can in some cases make a living, the reality is that incomes of the bottom of the pyramid are increased when we have better financial inclusion but we are not there yet.”
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