Overview

Table: Total Market Size, Education and Training, Unit: USD Millions

Total Market Size = (Total Local Production + Total Imports) – (Total Exports) 
Data Sources: 
Total Local Production: Industry contacts, Federal Ministry of Education, National Universities Commission (NUC)
Total Exports: Industry sources
Total Imports: Leading importers, distributors, and industry associations
Imports from U.S.: U.S. Census Bureau 

Nigeria’s increasing population poses a significant challenge to the country’s educational sector. More than half of Nigeria’s 227 million population is below the age of 25. Nigeria is struggling to provide quality educational services to its population and rapid growth will add millions more students in the coming years.

With the population increase, infrastructure deficit, poor funding, and increasing poverty, the number of out-of-school children is rising. According to the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), approximately 20 percent of the total out-of-school children population in the world are in Nigeria, with more than 18 million children in the country not enrolled in school. Of this, 69 percent come from the country’s north, where cultural practices and economic deficiency limit children’s active participation in school, particularly among girls. Almost two-thirds of all students are functionally illiterate. Anambra State (located in the south-eastern part of the country) has the lowest percentage of out-of-school children (6%), while Bauchi (in the north-central region) has the highest number (55%).

Both private and public educational services are provided in the country across all stages of the Nigerian education system (kindergarten to university). The country operates a 9-3-4 (K-12^th grade) education system which means that the first 9 years are spent on basic education, which includes Primary School to Junior Secondary School (Primary 1 –6, JSS 1 – 3); 3 years of senior secondary school and 4 years of tertiary education. Twelfth graders are required to take two major examinations determining admission into public or private tertiary institutions within and outside Nigeria. The first of these examinations is the West African Senior Secondary Certification Examination (WASSCE), conducted by the West African Examinations Council. The second is the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) conducted by the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board of Nigeria. Over 1.6 million students sit for the WASSCE examinations each year.

Resources allocated to education from the Nigerian government have not been able to keep up with the demand of a country given the sizable youth population. Public institutions have declined both in terms of quality of education delivered and education infrastructure capacity. A substantial number of would-be college and university students are turned away from the system due to a lack of classroom space allocation. The Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have indicated that of the 10 million applicants that sought entry into Nigerian tertiary institutions, only 26 percent gained admission.

Dependence on the federal and state governments for funding has resulted in the poor state Nigerian educational institutions. The decline of public institutions creates a market opportunity for the provision of quality education for those who have the means to pay. In the past two decades, there has been an increase in the number of private universities in the country filling in gaps left by public ones. Based on data from the National Universities Commission (NUC), there are 149 private universities in Nigeria, compared to 62 federal universities and 63 state universities. Private institutions can cost as much as $6,000 per term but there is a supply of students who can pay. 

Nigeria provides U.S. institutions a promising market of study abroad students. Middle income or affluent Nigerians send their children to other countries for quality education, particularly the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ghana, Malaysia, and India. According to the International Institute of Educators (IIE) Open Doors Report, Nigeria has over 85,000 students studying abroad, including a yearly average of over 17,000 students studying in the United States. 

To distribute education services across the county, the Nigerian government engaged with a digital learning platform called uLesson in 2020. The platform is created by a Nigerian start-up focused on digital learning applications for students. The product has over 1,000,000 downloads and is aimed at helping Nigerian students prepare for key examinations such as UTME (JAMB) and WAEC. uLesson partnered with state governments such as Plateau State to provide this solution to children. Other companies operating in this space are providing similar services, including Pass.ng and schoolgate.ng, which have been accredited by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education to warehouse virtual content which can be accessed online and offline. High rates of smartphone penetration and growing use of broadband internet are driving the adoption of technological solutions in the Nigerian education sector.

Opportunities 

Several opportunities exist for U.S. higher education institutions, suppliers of educational products, and educational service providers across Nigeria. The U.S. remains one of the preferred study destination for most Nigerians, as demonstrated by the number of Nigerians pursuing education in the U.S. which has reached a record high, 17,800 in 2023, even amidst the devaluation of the naira. Nigerians increasingly favor foreign education due to the inadequacies in the Nigerian educational system. However, due to the high cost of foreign education, many Nigerians and educational institutions are opting for hybrid modes of learning, which presents a huge opportunity for U.S. institutions to partner with local universities and college in Nigeria. 

The application and admissions process to some U.S. universities can seem intimidating and complicated. Engagement with Nigerian educational institutions such as WAEC, NECO, and JAMB to create solutions that will improve confirmation and verification of results is imperative. U.S. suppliers are favored in Nigeria for the provision of technology-based solutions. For example, a U.S.-based company supplies smart cards to WAEC for candidate verification during its annual WASSCE exams. In addition, U.S.-based technologies are increasingly being adopted at computer testing centers across the country.

The recruitment of in-country representatives and education agents who are based in Nigeria to help prospective students through the application and admissions process is critical. This improves the prospects of students completing their applications, gaining admission, and procuring documentation requirements for their visa application.  

With COVID-19, several institutions, including the Lagos Business School, pivoted to using Zoom, a California-headquartered company, to deliver lectures to students. Several other U.S.-based education technology companies have found success in the Nigerian market by identifying local partners and educational service providers with direct access to end-users (e.g., students or institutions) who use their localized solutions for the dissemination of educational instructions. The pandemic has created an opportunity for U.S. companies selling educational solutions for online lectures and exams to Nigerian universities, particularly private institutions. 

For more information, e-mail: Banksharon Nwaneri, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Consulate General, Lagos, Nigeria at Banksharon.Nwaneri@trade.gov