Nigeria’s government has agreed to a 50 per cent increase in the country’s minimum wage, in a move designed to break a deadlock with unions and avert a strike.
Workers on the minimum wage in Africa’s most populous nation currently receive 18 thousand naira which is equivalent to 50 dollars a month, but there have been repeated calls for it to go up.
In November last year, state governors rejected a deal to raise the amount to 30 thousand naira, calling it “impracticable” given the amount of federal funding they receive.
Nigerian states receive monthly allocations from the federal government coffers but many states have not paid public sector workers for months, citing an economic downturn.