Our First Policy Brief: Youth Economic Participation in Nigeria
The BOF Research & Policy Lab has published its inaugural brief. Here is a summary of what we found and why we are publishing the methodology alongside it.
The Research & Policy Lab exists because we kept making programme decisions on anecdote. This first brief is an attempt to replace some of that anecdote with evidence.
The question
What actually prevents young Nigerians from participating in the formal economy — and how much of it is addressable at the level a foundation operates?
Headline findings
- Registration cost is a smaller barrier than registration complexity.
- Access to a first business account correlates more strongly with survival at twelve months than starting capital does.
- Mentorship effects concentrate in the first ninety days, then flatten sharply.
The third finding changed how we schedule mentorship across every programme we run.
Why the methodology is published too
Our sample is small and geographically concentrated. Publishing the method lets readers judge how far the findings travel, and lets other organisations replicate or contradict them. A brief that cannot be checked is marketing, not research.
Limitations, stated plainly
- Sample drawn from programme applicants, which self-selects for motivation.
- Twelve-month follow-up only; no longer-horizon data yet.
- Single-region concentration limits national generalisation.
The full brief and its data appendix are available on request via our contact page.
