12 Economic Trends in Nigeria that will affect Your Career

It is quite saddening that information and statistics that are connected with the economic state of Nigeria (especially such that can easily be understood by a large majority of the populace) are in scanty supply. In more developed nations, their citizens live by information, as information is power.

Economic trends are critically analyzed and put down in terms that the lay man can grab in a whiz. It is therefore not surprising that when citizens of more developed countries are interviewed on the streets, they can actually give answers that are meaningful and show an understanding of the predominant events and occurrences in the country.

Politics, economy, health care, security, etc. are represented by figures, and these statistics help the common man on the street to measure growth and progress. Comparative analyses are easier to carry out and trends become quite easy to determine.

Read Also: 12 Tips to Beat Poverty amid Difficult Times

If you Google search economic trends right now, you might not find a single link that is Nigerian. Yet, thousands of other results display the flexibility of countries like the United States, Canada, Spain, England, and the likes, with statistics that relate with economic trends.

How do we expect the populace, the masses, the common men and women on the street, to know the direction that the Nation is heading towards when all they have to rely on are hearsay? We are continually deceived by politicians because there are no actual statistics to refer to.

Nigerians on the streets just know that the Nigerian Naira keeps falling in the currency market, and they do not know why. Every problem is attributed to ‘bad government’ in a general sense, but rarely are the specifics ever discussed. Why is this happening? What was it last year? What was it last month? What was it yesterday? What sectors are in the driving seat in the economy? Why is this declining? Why is that rising? What are the figures?

These are questions that we should be asking.

I am really sorry for mildly derailing from the topic itself, but I just had to say something about that so that more information like this/these can come to light in the future.

This probably is the only online material that discusses this topic as Nigeria is concerned for now. These kinds of lists are usually updated yearly or biannually in more advanced nations. We at InfoguideNigeria will try to get more of these across to you after they have been carefully researched and hopefully, future articles will be more comprehensive.

Economic trends simply put are steady observable directions that the economy of the nation or at least factors that drive it seem to be heading towards.

Your career choice in actual fact is heavily affected by these trends. This is because a change in economic trend can make a lucrative industry or career line, become stale and not as promising. A host of jobs that are available in 2016 most likely were not available in 2005.

The most lucrative or best jobs or 2010 are not the best jobs in 2016. This is not just a Nigeria thing. It happens worldwide. When we were younger, bank jobs were everyone’s dreams.

Everybody wanted to work in an oil company or a bank. 15 to 20 years ago, who would have known that a man could become a billionaire by simply creating a platform for communication and sharing on the internet?

Who would have known that the internet would become so large? Today the internet is the largest market plans and the kind of money that is spun around the internet on a daily basis is mind boggling.

While planning your career, since it is one of those things that you might not be able to just change in the blink of an eye, it is imperative that you consider all the factors that might possibly kick your dream job into extinction by the time that you are fully ripe to start utilizing the skills you have learned for such job.

You should also look at the potentials of your talents or current skills, becoming big hits in the nearest future.

So let’s get into the economic trends that might affect your career choices.

1) INFLATION:

I believe that it is hardly surprising that inflation tops this list. Inflation is one topic in economics that is very easy to understand and pass. Yet, it is bewildering that inflation is staring us right in the face and some of us still cannot put a name to what is happening.

It is inflation, people. Although inflation is more complicated than simply when so much money is chasing few goods, that principle is the underlying basis for pointing out inflation. One thing about prices is that… Prices have little problems going up, but for prices to come down is ironically an “uphill” task.

Ever since biscuits moved from N5 to N10, you should notice that it has remained there, and now the common brands go for N20 and N25. I am going to try as much as possible to be as plain as possible and leave out specialized economic terms.

See the: Current Inflation Rate in Nigeria

The general price level has significantly gone up and some products are now being purchased at two times the price they used to go for a year ago.

In Nigeria, so many things determine how prices would be shaped. Products usually go for definite and “easy to get change” prices like N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1000. One problem that the country has is it’s high currency denominations.

There might be no actual scientific explanation for this, but I can boldly say that if the proposed N5000 notes were released, things would be much worse. You simply cannot “control” such things in a country like Nigeria. The notes will spread beyond your imagination, and prices will go up for no reason at all.

In a country like ours, many a times, prices go up simply for “convenience”. And people fail to understand that a domino effect will always take place. A rise in the price of one product can cause a rise in the price of every other product in the country and no one will be able to trace where it started from. How does this affect your career choice?

Remember… Inflation does not work in the favour of salary earners. While a trader can increase the price of her wares to meet her increasing daily costs, the fixed income earner still has the same fixed amount to compete for his needs with increasing prices. Basic economics.

2) FLUCTUATING CONVERSION RATES

This is one that we are all familiar with. Conversion rates, especially the one that concerns us directly (Naira – Dollar) keep fluctuating daily. The Naira gains a little one week, and drops even more the next. Does your career line involve foreign exchange?

3) MASS RETRENCHMENT BY BANKS

Banks in recent time have been laying off workers increasingly in a bid to “right size”. How expendable will your work at the bank make you?

4) GLOBALIZATION

The opening up of the worlds markets is not a new trend but it is an ongoing one for all nations. Globalization has involves everything from studying abroad, buying and selling across international borders, lesser restrictions, and more markets in other countries.

What are your prospects? Do ypu have an intention of exploiting any potential market that might open up in the nearest future?

5) INCREASING PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATION

Yes. In Nigeria today, there are numerous professional courses and exams that offer relevant certificates. Some institutions are more recognized than others, though. There is a significantly increasing rate in the number of people that get qualified in different angles.

Even the prestigious ICAN qualification for accountants is an area that is already getting densely populated. Science and arts students who can cope with learning the basics of accounting have also started getting qualified.

If this is your line, then maybe your Bsc. might not be really significant in the coning years if you do not have at least some of these qualifications to level the playing field.

6) SIMULATION ENGINEERING AND ROBOTICS

This refers to technology that does the physical jobs of humans that require some physical effort. Although Nigeria is slow to join this trend, it is a world wide trend that is equally catching up with Nigeria. Be sure that the job that your career choice offers you cannot be easily replaced by a robot in the nearest future.

7) APPLICATIONS AND SOFTWARE

Just like the previous point, technology has advanced in these areas too. Some skills that you might be proud of some years ago have become useless already in big organizations due to the availability of these application softwares that can do those things in far lesser time.

Know your field. Get acquainted with the applications that are related to your field, and learn to use them effectively.

That might be the edge you would have over your peers in the job market now and in the future.

It helps to learn these, as not to be caught on the disadvantaged side. Believe me, these days, nobody cares about how good you were in maths back in school. There are easy applications and even small calculators that can solve what you nay solve in 20 minutes, in just 10 seconds.

8) FOCUS ON YOUTHS

The trend in Nigeria for a while now has been youth focus. Everything is slowly becoming youth oriented. Your thinking has to change to grow into this. Younger people are considered for more official and professional jobs. Trust me, banking and finance might not be the best course for you if you are still a Jambite at the age of 25.

Read: How to Start Importation Business in Nigeria with Only N,5000 Naira or Less

9. FEMALE ORIENTATION

While this is a global trend, it is growing to be predominant a Nigerian one. Music is made to attract the female audience, products are designed to suit the female population, a large majority, close to 75% and rising number of marketers are female. Even customer care jobs are dominated by females. There are some career choices you should consider shying away from if you are masculine.

10. INTERNET REVOLUTION

The internet is the largest market in the world today. Almost every company has internet presence and even job adverts are mostly found on the internet and rarely on newspapers these days. Does your career choice have an acceptability to the internet revolution? Please do not make a decision that could potentially make you stale in less than 10 years.

Read: 4 Good Reasons why a Good Website can Boost your Business

11. EASY DOES IT

These days in Nigeria, people hardly have time for complicated things. Impatience level has grown. Flexibility and ease of access has become the order of the day. This explains why generally, picture jokes on social media like Facebook, get more likes and shares than text jokes. People can’t really settle down to read the texts anymore. Reading levels in the country has dropped, and a great thanks to smart phones. Can you communicate with fewer words or pass a message across with just a concept or representation? Then congratulations, you will probably survive better in the world of today. However, you should be careful not to assume that everyone is new school. Still, easy does it withal.

12) RISE IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND PRIVATELY OWNED FIRMS

These days and most likely also in the nearest and far future, most professionals develop a mind of “let me be on my own”, thus there are privately owned offices, some not having more than two staff, everywhere around the country, especially in more industrialized areas like Lagos.

Entrepreneurs have sprung up in every corner and the spirit of entrepreneurship has seen better glow in recent time. This trend is likely to continue into the nearest future. Some small offices rake in hundreds of thousands and even millions of naira just within the confines of four walls, demarcated into offices by fancy wood.

These are trends that affect your career choice and you should consider each point before you fully delve into anything. This article is basically for the younger people, and parents should help enlighten their children on these trends.

Read Also: 10 Reasons Why Your Business is Declining and How to Revive it

I hope you had a lovely read.
Please do make your comments and let us know your thoughts.
See you next time.

📢 We are hiring writers!