Nigeria ranks below Seychelles, Lybia, Morocco, Gabon, others in minimum wage index

It is the desire of every employee to do less work and earn more money. After all, who doesn’t like to exert minimum effort for maximum enjoyment? Unfortunately, this is hardly the case for majority of people, especially those working in Africa.

As a matter of fact, the reverse is actually the case, as millions of people across the continent earn what can best be described as “poverty pay”.

Indeed, African countries have some of the lowest minimum wage rates in the world with Nigeria not ranking among the first 20. Nigeria’s minimum wage is N30, 000 (equivalent of 51 USD).

Perhaps this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. After all, some of the world’s poorest countries are located here. But this notwithstanding, workers in some African countries stand better chance of earning more than others.

According to Investopedia, a minimum wage is the lowest, statutorily required wage that a worker can earn. In other words, it is illegal for employers to pay employees anything short of the minimum wage as stipulated by a federal law of a given country.