Wages in Africa are poorest globally – Wabba

The President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has said that despite enormous mineral and human resources, wages in Africa has remained the poorest around the world.

Speaking during the 6th African Social Partners’ Summit organised by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), Wabba said that wages of workers underline the purchasing power in any clime, describing it has a major driver for productivity and growth.

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“Wages in Africa are the poorest around the world. For a continent that is endowed with enormous mineral and human resource, this is totally unacceptable. It is sad that while other regions have deservedly elevated the wage discourse to decent and living wages, many African governments and employers still see minimum wage as some sort of lottery for workers. Workers all over Africa demand for wage justice.

“We appreciate our social partners in Nigeria for facilitating a new national minimum wage of N30,000 for Nigerian workers. We urge social partners all over the continent to take seriously the issue of wage justice. In a continent where the periodic review of national minimum wage has become the mother of all struggles, we must question our commitment to truly inspiring economic growth and creating the much-needed jobs.”

Speaking further, Wabba called on African leaders to prioritise creation of sustainable jobs that will ensure meaningful living for people, saying job creation must now be taken down from PowerPoint presentations in beautiful summits and taken to the corridors of effective public policy making to achieve the streets of industrialization, healthy trade conditions, progressive and productive tax regimes, and an informal sector fully organized for genuine transition to the formal economy. 

“All over the world we need jobs. In Africa, we need plenty new jobs. Yet, jobs will not happen by happenstance. Job generation is a reward for economic growth. The economy can only grow with increase in purchasing power.

“In order to create sustainable jobs for Africa’s teeming youth, African governments must create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive. We call on our governments to fix and expand existing infrastructure especially roads, rails, and electricity which are critical for industrialization. We stress on affordable power. Government must provide the power to power the aspirations of millions of our youth.

“We must also avoid multiple taxation as it increases the cost of doing business in Africa. If we reduce the high incidence of official corruption, there will be enough funds to fund economic growth and bring about shared prosperity.

“The Africa Continental Free Trade Area is a huge platform for economic growth and mass job creation. We must ensure it has decent work content. We must strictly enforce the rule of origin to avoid turning Africa into a dumping ground for finished goods from other climes.” He said