Beyond the minimum wage: Nigeria’s real affordability problem, By Dipo Baruwa

A worker in Germany, South Africa or the UK may pay a higher nominal price for petrol, but that price exists within a different productive and institutional context: higher incomes, more reliable electricity, better public transportation, stronger logistics systems, greater industrial capacity and more efficient public services.

Comparing Nigeria’s minimum wage with wages elsewhere without accounting for productivity, purchasing power and the wider cost structure of each economy can be equally misleading.

This requires reliable and competitively priced energy, improved transport and logistics, greater productive capacity within firms, expanded employment opportunities, reductions in agricultural and distribution losses, improved security, more efficient public administration, and stronger transparency and accountability in government.