Nigeria plans to more than double the minimum wage to N70,000, ending months of haggling with labor unions that saw its power grid and busiest airports shut during a workers’ strike.
“The new minimum wage we expect the president to submit to the national assembly for legislation is 70,000 naira ($43),” up from 30,000 naira, said Minister of Information Mohammed Idris at briefing after the groups met with Bola Tinubu. The president has also assured unions that massive investments will be made in infrastructure and renewal energy, Idris said.
Wages in the West African nation have been battered by inflation that’s at a more than 28-year-high. Price rises have been driven by food and transport costs after Tinubu partially scrapped a popular fuel subsidy and removed currency restrictions that has seen the naira lose 71% of its value against the dollar since June 2023.
“We are taking this with mixed feelings because of the situation of the economy, but we have to move ahead,” said Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero.
The new amount is far below 250,000 naira the two largest unions had demanded, while the government faces further strains on the public purse to cover the new bills.
Some of Nigeria’s 36 states struggled to pay the previous minimum wage, with workers and pensioners going for months without pay. Private businesses, which are the nation’s biggest employers and have been hit by the weakness of the naira, will now have to contend with higher pay for their lower-skilled workers.
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