Investment on workers critical to $1trn economy target – FG

The Special Adviser to the Vice President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, said Nigeria’s ambition of building a one trillion dollar economy could not be achieved without sustained investment in people. Speaking during a stakeholders’ workshop on Human Capital Development (HCD) Strategy 2.0 in Abuja, Fasua stated that the national aspiration of building a one […]

The Special Adviser to the Vice President on Economic Affairs, Tope Fasua, said Nigeria’s ambition of building a one trillion dollar economy could not be achieved without sustained investment in people.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ workshop on Human Capital Development (HCD) Strategy 2.0 in Abuja, Fasua stated that the national aspiration of building a one trillion dollar economy cannot be achieved without deliberate and sustained investment in people.
Fasua, who represented the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hassan, said most human capital interventions were implemented at the state and local government levels.
“This means that the success of the national Human Capital Development agenda will ultimately be determined at the subnational level,” he added.
He urged state governments to ensure that human capital councils remained active and properly funded.
“The complexity of human capital challenges requires a genuine whole of government approach. Health cannot work in isolation from education,” he explained.
Also, the Director of Special Duties at the National Economic Council (NEC), Dr Gloria Ahmed, said Nigeria remained within the low human development category despite government interventions over the years.
Ahmed said the country’s Human Development Index stood at 0.548 according to the 2023/2024 UNDP report.
She added that inequality accounted for more than 32 per cent loss in Nigeria’s human development outcomes.
“The World Bank Human Capital Index indicates that a child born in Nigeria today is expected to achieve only about 36 per cent of their productive potential compared to what could have been attained under conditions of full health and quality education,” she said.

 

Ahmed said the HCD 2.0 framework was introduced to move away from fragmented interventions to a coordinated and results-driven system.

 

National Coordinator of HCD, Rukaiya El-Rufai, said Nigeria recorded only marginal improvement under the revised ranking methodology.

 

“We have a gap to close and if we close that gap, it could raise GDP by 110 per cent,” she said.

 

El-Rufai explained that the revised index now measured broader indicators including employment and lifelong learning in addition to health and education outcomes.

 

She said the government had prioritised indicators such as under five mortality, stunting, immunisation, out of school children, learning poverty and youths not in employment, education or training.

 

She explained that poor nutrition and stunting could weaken future workforce productivity.