Director-General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Gilbert Houngbo, has urged governments to turn economic transformation into decent work and build a labour market that serves the interests of all.

He Houngbo stated this at a recent World Government Summit in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

His discussions focused on labour-market reforms, skills development, labour protection systems and the governance challenges arising from rapid economic and technological change, particularly in highly diverse, migrant-worker-dependent labour markets.

He called on governments to place people, rights and institutions at the centre of economic transformation, warning that growth without decent work risks deepening inequality and social fragmentation.

While he highlighted the central role of labour-market governance, skills, and social justice in shaping inclusive growth in the digital and green transitions, Houngbo argued that strong labour-market governance was not a barrier to growth but rather what makes growth inclusive and resilient.

He emphasised that modern labour governance must move beyond job-centred approaches towards worker-centred systems, where rights, social protection, skills development and workers’ voices accompany people across increasingly diverse and mobile careers, including in platform and digitally managed work.

The Director-General also highlighted the growing importance of transparency, accountability and fairness in algorithmic management and digital workplaces, stressing that innovation must operate within a framework of rights and responsibilities rather than creating new regulatory gaps.

Houngbo warned that the world remained off-track on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and argued that the post-2030 agenda must move away from fragmented initiatives towards long-term, strategic partnerships capable of delivering measurable social and economic outcomes.

He stressed that future development cooperation must be people-centred, rights-based and anchored in international labour standards and social dialogue.

He also stressed that partnerships should function as platforms for policy coherence, aligning labour, economic, social and environmental objectives in a context of fiscal constraints and growing global uncertainty.

The ILO DG addressed how digitalisation and artificial intelligence are reshaping jobs, skills and organisations and why outcomes remained a matter of choice rather than inevitability.

He noted that while technology can boost productivity, it also risks widening inequality if productivity gains are not shared, labour protections are not extended to new forms of work, and access to lifelong learning remains uneven.

He argued that skills development must become a permanent entitlement for workers, supported by strong institutions, active labour-market policies, and social dialogue.

Already, the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 showed that over 60 per cent of workers worldwide will require reskilling or upskilling by 2027 as automation, artificial intelligence (AI) and green transitions reshape industries.

In Nigeria, for the tripartite, comprising governments, employers and workers to ensure that labour market reforms support innovation while advancing decent work and social justice, experts said the future of work was already here.

By investing in its people, they argued that Nigeria could transform its demographic pressure into global competitiveness and inspire the rest of Africa to do the same.

Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Chris Onyeka, said the government was not doing enough compared with other African countries like Rwanda, Kenya, Mauritius, and South Africa, whose governments are investing heavily in digital education and infrastructure.

He said the country’s skills transformation targets are ambitious, but achievable with coordinated investment and accountability.

Investing in human capital, Onyeka said, was the most resilient pathway to shared prosperity, noting that Nigeria has both the scale and the ambition to prove it.

“Nigeria’s story has always been one of potential. The difference now lies in coordination, not capacity, and in action, not aspiration,” he said.

In creating a roadmap for skills transformation, the Nigerian government aims to equip millions of people with digital literacy and entrepreneurial skills by 2030, according to the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS 2020-2030) led by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.

Building on the foundation, projections from the World Bank’s Digital Economy for Africa Initiative indicated that coordinated national skills programmes can drive employment growth and competitiveness across emerging industries.

With the support of the accelerator, internal research from the National Talent Export Programme under the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment projects that Nigeria could equip 10 million young people with industry-relevant skills through blended learning models and public-private partnerships, while also reducing youth under-employment by 25 per cent and creating new digital and technical jobs across key sectors.

According to experts, Nigeria can also expand its share of the digital economy beyond 25 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

They argued that the country could serve as a regional export hub for highly skilled African talent, in line with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocol on Trade in Services, which supports cross-border trade in digital and professional services.

The AfCFTA, they said, brings together 55 countries into a single market worth $3.4 trillion – the largest in the world by membership.

Beyond tariff reductions, they said it establishes a unified framework for trade, investment, and digital standards, adding that the World Bank’s projections show the AfCFTA could lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty and boost Africa’s income by over $450 billion by 2035.

In addressing the changing world of work, already, transformation is redefining the skills the economy needs.

Employers also report persistent shortages in technical and digital skills, underscoring the need for coordinated investment. Other African countries face similar mismatches between education output and market demand, but Nigeria’s scale makes the issue especially urgent.

Director-General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Adewale-Smatt Oyerinde, said that as Nigeria embarks on the journey towards a greener economy, mindful of the challenges that lie ahead and the immense opportunities it brings, the need for reskilling and upskilling the workforce to meet the demands of emerging green industries is paramount.

He underscored the need to tap into the potential of the green economy, conserve the environment, and unlock opportunities for business growth and job creation.

By embracing green practices and fostering a culture of innovation, he argued that Nigeria could unlock new avenues for employment, entrepreneurship, and economic prosperity, while also aiding the preservation of the environment.

While he called for a concerted effort, investment, and policy support, they said achieving success will require strong leadership, collaboration at all levels, and policy development.

The NECA boss said the immense opportunities in the green economy cannot only create millions of jobs but also foster social inclusion, reduce inequality, and promote environmental stewardship.

According to him, it is a pathway towards a more resilient, equitable and prosperous future for all Nigerians.

On strategies for building a future-ready workforce, the chief executive officer of Quomodo Systems Africa and a leading advocate for digital transformation and AI-readiness across Africa, Oluwole Asalu, called for a multifaceted approach that includes access to affordable, reliable power and cheap broadband to join the digital economy.