NWOGU, FRED and OLADOSUN, Muyiwa and Amoo, Emmanuel O. (2023) Harnessing The Elusive Demographic Dividend In Nigeria Through Improved Skills, Entrepreneurship Development And Labour Force Participation. Journal of Namibian Studies, 34 (S1). pp. 3015-3038. ISSN 2197-5523 (online)
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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.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Demographic dividend, entrepreneurship, labour force participation, skill, and youth. |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | nwokealisi |
| Date Deposited: | 24 Sep 2024 13:52 |
| Last Modified: | 24 Sep 2024 13:52 |
| URI: | http://eprints.covenantuniversity.edu.ng/id/eprint/18449 |
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