Nigeria jobs needs vary by region, with healthcare, technology, agriculture and manufacturing taking different positions in the six geopolitical zones. This is a pattern revealed by SBM Intelligence’s August 2026 survey of 1,180 people in 21 cities.
The findings show that employment needs are tied closely to local economic activity, skills gaps, business conditions and access to basic services.
The report, titled “Six Zones, One Crisis: What Nigerians say about jobs, skills and the risk of leaving,” found that technology ranked first nationally at 14.4%, followed by agriculture at 13.2%, healthcare at 12.7%, manufacturing at 11.0% and trade at 10.9%. The figures show that Nigeria does not have one uniform employment demand.
Each region points to a different economic need
Healthcare led the Southeast ranking at 17.8%, ahead of technology at 13.3% and manufacturing at 13.0%. The pattern points to demand for medical services alongside the zone’s industrial and commercial base.
In the Southwest, technology ranked first at 16.6%, followed by healthcare at 15.4% and education at 15.1%. The figures fit the zone’s concentration of digital businesses, startups and service jobs.
Manufacturing took first place in the South South at 15.7%, with technology at 15.0% and trade at 12.0%. The figures show demand for industrial employment in a zone strongly associated with Nigeria’s oil economy.
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Agriculture dominated the Northwest ranking at 22.6%, far ahead of healthcare at 14.8% and technology at 14.4%. SBM Intelligence described the zone as an agriculture first economy, with farming still its main productive activity.
The Northeast also placed agriculture first, at 14.2%, followed by trade at 10.2% and healthcare at 10.1%. No sector had a decisive lead there.
Northcentral placed technology first at 18.1%, followed by trade at 15.0% and healthcare at 9.7%. SBM Intelligence warned that the sample was heavily concentrated in Abuja, so the figures should not be treated as representative of the entire region.
The report said these preferences show local productive bases, shortages and aspirations. A high healthcare preference can point to weak medical infrastructure, just as a manufacturing preference can point to industrial decline. Job priorities also differ between urban and rural areas.
Pay, skills and finance shape access to work
The survey found that employment barriers also vary by region. Nationally, low pay was the biggest obstacle at 19.2%, followed by lack of skills at 17.5%, limited access to capital and credit at 16.4%, unavailable jobs at 15.2% and poor infrastructure at 8.9%.
In the Southeast, low pay led at 24.8%, followed by an absolute shortage of jobs at 20.9%. SBM Intelligence found that many educated people had entered small scale business because formal employment was limited.
The Northwest and Northeast recorded skills and vocational training as their main employment barrier, at 26.8% and 22.9% respectively. Insecurity was significant in the Northeast but did not rank as its main constraint.
Southwest respondents identified poor infrastructure at 21.0% and limited access to capital at 20.0%. Power, transport and financing problems therefore stand out as barriers to business expansion and job creation in the zone.
The findings came shortly after another SBM Intelligence report on Nigeria’s 15 highest paying healthcare jobs. Surgeons were listed at N11 million to N17.8 million yearly, cardiologists at about N15.8 million, anesthesiologists at around N12.3 million, medical doctors at about N10.3 million and psychiatrists at roughly N10.2 million.
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