African Workforce Summit aims to tackle Nigeria’s soaring unemployment

The African Workforce Summit (AWS), the continent’s premier platform for professional development, has made plans to convene in Lagos in a key move to tackle Nigeria’s mounting skill gaps and rising unemployment.

With youth unemployment in Nigeria hitting a staggering 53 percent, Lagos is preparing to host a major intervention aimed at closing the gap between education and employment.

According to the organisers, AWS will convene over 2,300 delegates on June 27-28 at the Sheba Event Centre, Ikeja, in a bid to align talent with opportunity in an economy undergoing rapid digital transformation.

Billed as “The Fuse,” this year’s summit will confront Nigeria’s mounting labour crisis as 3.2 million graduates enter a job market generating fewer than 500,000 formal jobs annually, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

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“Africa’s demographic dividend represents a tremendous opportunity if we can successfully prepare our workforce for the future,” said Moses Joel Babatunde, founder and convener of AWS. “The Fuse represents that critical moment when preparation meets opportunity.”

The event will offer over 500 one-on-one career consultations, including CV reviews, LinkedIn optimisation, and mock interviews. More than 250 job interviews will take place on-site, and a pitch contest will provide seed capital and mentorship to three early-stage entrepreneurs.

Speakers at the summit include Babajide Duroshola, general manager at M-KOPA; Peace Itimi, founder of Founders Connect; Victor Fatanmi, co-founder of FourthCanvas; Joshua Chibueze, co-founder at PiggyVest; and media entrepreneur Pamilerin Adegoke.

Babatunde said AWS is “Nigeria’s largest skills-focused intervention,” designed to connect job seekers, employers, and innovators tackling structural unemployment challenges.

Mayowa Adeosun, COO at Sycamore Group, underscored the urgency of reform. “Technology has fundamentally changed how we work, but many of our educational systems haven’t caught up,” he said. “We need platforms that bridge this gap.”

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While Nigeria’s tech sector has created over 200,000 jobs since 2020 and attracted $1.5 billion in foreign investment last year, a severe mismatch persists: many graduates are unemployed even as firms struggle to fill roles requiring digital skills.

“The real opportunity lies in combining Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit with practical skills development,” Adeosun said. “When you give young people the right tools and networks, they don’t just find jobs—they create them.”

AWS is set to expand to Kigali and Nairobi in future editions, underscoring a pan-African ambition to tackle workforce challenges through collaborative innovation.