Contrary to X user’s claim, some African countries pay over N400,000 minimum wage

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Saheed Ibrahim

Claim: An X user, Kawu Garba (@KawuGarba), claimed that no African country pays a minimum wage of N400,000.

Verdict: False! Countries like Seychelles, Libya, and Morocco pay more than N400,000 minimum wage.

Full Text

The Federal Government of Nigeria faces pressure from organised labour, comprising the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), over the minimum wage payable to workers in the country.

The minimum wage in the country is currently N30,0000 monthly, which was increased from N18,0000 in 2019 by then-President Muhammadu Buhari.

During his campaign before the 2023 presidential election that ushered in President Bola Tinubu’s administration, he promised Nigerians that he would ensure they have a living wage. PremiumTimes quoted him thus: “I shall have the privilege and honour to lead from May 29. Workers will have a living wage to have a decent life and provide for their families.”

However, given the current economic realities in Nigeria, organised labour believes that workers deserve more than N30,000 to have a minimum wage that guarantees a living wage.

Organised labour demanded a minimum wage of N615,000 from the federal government, giving May 31 as the deadline for the government to respond to Labour’s demand or declare a nationwide strike.

Several meetings were held between the government, the organised private sector, and organised labour to deliberate on what to pay as minimum wage, but these ended in a deadlock.

On May 31, organised labour declared a nationwide strike, beginning on Monday, June 3, over the tripartite committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and a hike in electricity tariff.

The strike was, however, suspended the next day after organised labour reached some agreements with the government. It was disclosed that the Federal Government expressed President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to raise the N60,000 offered as the minimum wage.

Meanwhile, on June 3, an X user, Kawu Garba (@KawuGarba), claimed, “No country in Africa pays N400k as minimum wage.”

As of June 5, his post has garnered 1 million views, 257 reposts, 362 comments, and 17 bookmarks. X users who commented in the comment section believed his claim was false, while others said that Nigerian workers deserve more than what the government offers them, given the country’s current economic situation.

DUBAWA decided to conduct a fact check to verify this claim that no African country pays N400,000 to set the record straight.

Verification

DUBAWA conducted a keyword search on minimum wage across the African continent. We found a March 23, 2024, BusinessDay report that compares Nigeria’s minimum wage of N30,0000 with six other African countries.

The report shows, “Using an average N1,500 to a dollar exchange rate, a Nigerian worker goes home at the end of 30 working days with $20.

“Meanwhile, as of 2023, workers in Seychelles, Libya, Morocco, Gabon, South Africa, Mauritius, and Equatorial Guinea have $456, $325, $315, $256, $242, $240, and $224, respectively, as their minimum “take home” at the end of the month.”

Here is the table with the figures multiplied by the current dollar-naira exchange rate on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria as of June 4, 2024:

Countries	Original Amount	Multiplied by N1,474
Seychelles	$456	₦672,144
Libya	$325	₦479,050
Morocco	$315	₦464,310
Gabon	$256	₦377,344
South Africa	$242	₦356,708
Mauritius	$240	₦353,760
Equatorial Guinea	$224	₦330,176

An August 16, 2023, report by The Nation also provided similar data. Business Insider Africa’s report on March 4, 2024, curated from Wisevoter, also presents Seychelles, Libya and Morocco as the top 3 African countries with the highest minimum wages. Wisevoter is a platform designed to provide comprehensive information and tools to citizens, voters, and elected officials. DUBAWA visited Wisevoter’s official page and confirmed that Seychelles pays $465.4 as monthly minimum wage, ranking 38^th in the world, Libya is second in Africa with $321.83 (45^th in the world), and Morocco is third with $314.7 (47^th in the world).

Conclusion

The claim that no African country pays N400,000 as a monthly minimum wage is false. Seychelles, Libya and Morocco are African countries that pay more than N400,000 as a minimum wage.

This report is produced for the Dubawa 2024 Kwame Karikari Fact-Checking Fellowship in partnership with The Hope Newspaper to facilitate the ethos of truth in journalism and enhance media literacy in Nigeria.