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Majority of Lagos millennials earn ₦60,000 or less a month – Study
Despite having a sizeable proportion of the population of Lagos state, which is estimated at 22 million, millennials in the state actually form the bulk of those who go home with meager wages at the end of the month.
According to the ‘African Millennial Currencies: The 2019 Report’, a joint study by Exp Agency and REACH Technologies, about 55 percent of the Lagos millennial population earns ₦60,000 or less a month.
The Nigerian national minimum wage, though still in contention, is ₦30,000. It was previously pegged at ₦18,000.
A breakdown of this demography, according to the study, shows that 26 percent earns ₦20,000 or less; 17 percent earns between ₦20,000 and ₦40,000; while 12 percent go home with ₦40,000 to ₦60,000. A paltry one percent of this categorization earns between ₦350,000 and ₦500,000 per month. The upper limit, pegged at ₦500,000 and above, represents just four percent of the demography.
The study is aimed at “Defining Social, Monetary, and Professional Currencies in the African Millennial Experience,” according to its preamble.
“Our research cut across Lagos’ socioeconomic spectrum. This gave us the opportunity to take a realtime snapshot of the actual state of the wallets of Lagos millennials.”
“Millennials in Lagos are not big earners, but their power is in their numbers and in their attitude to cash. They are forward-facing, putting away 14% of their money toward insurance or some other saving or investment scheme,” the report said.
The expenses that gulp the Lagos millennials’ wallet are interesting to observe. The top five expenditure items are bills and utilities, bank charges, transport, online shopping and restaurants.
However, business expenses, though occupying the 8th spot, gets the largest chunk of the expenses with 20 percent, followed by savings and investments, on the 7th spot, with 14 percent. Grocery, on the 6th spot, consumes 11 percent of the expenditure, while gifts and family (10th spot) and online shopping are at par with 10 percent.
The continent-wide study also indicated that millennials will make up about 35 percent of the Africa’s workforce by 2030, while entrepreneurship is adjudged the fastest way to make money across the continent today.
In Accra, Ghana, when the millennials were asked to identify which three brands do the most social good in their communities, the dominant response was “Nothing comes to mind” (14 percent), followed by MTN (11 percent) and Vodafone (eight percent). In Lagos, the top two positions were occupied by MTN and Coca-Cola.
“There is a huge opportunity for brands to capture the Millennial Mind Share” in Africa, the report said.
