There is no denying by now that many Nigerian companies are repeatedly losing their best talents to foreign enterprises, leaving employers with the task of replacing them.
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The Policies and the Start-Ups
While we expect policies to aid the growth of sectors for economical benefit, the opposite seems to be for the tech space in Nigeria. While it is understandable the regulators and policymakers may have been looking out for the safety of the Nigerian people, it is also very important to stress that these regulators and policymakers properly and widely consult so as not to use a chainsaw for razor duty.

We have seen companies fold up, investors pull out and even freelancers being handicapped due to policies. Bike hailing and virtual card policies may be good case studies.

While we are keeping hopes high on Nigerian startup bills, the delay and body language on passing the bill speaks volumes.

So what are the chances of Nigerians talents leaving in droves?

One important thing we need to realise is that the impact of the ICT sector on the Nigerian economy is real and immense. On the surface, some of the best-known Nigerian companies in Africa and beyond include unicorns like Flutterwave, Andela and OPay.

More importantly, the sector contributed 15.21% to the GDP in the last quarter of 2021.

Why then are the talents moving out of the country? There are a few reasons.

The foldup scare: Policies, economy and insecurity have killed more businesses than reported. But these young people know this and how frequently businesses die. Not sure anyone wants to stay in an environment an overnight policy could take their job away.
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Weakening naira: While an average colleague earns better in another country competing for the same talent, the continuous decline of the Naira keeps the gap wider and that even accepting a lower-level job in competing countries is more profitable.

Remote job: Since COVID, the remote job culture has been widely adopted which makes a Nigerian company in direct competition with a US-based firm. Some of these talents don’t even have to leave their room to deliver their task for these foreign companies with four times better offers of what the Nigerian competition is offering.

Unemployment rate: At Lernpod, we have lots of applicants every session that are looking to learn or sharpen their skills in IT. However, there has been a trend of these young people leaving for overseas at graduation. We found out that our young people have lost hope in the system being able to reduce the unemployment rate.
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Elijah Bello is the founder of a Learnpod, a tech entrepreneurship academy based in Ogun state, Nigeria.