Churches are the 2nd Largest Employers of Labour after the Nigerian Government - Iyin Aboyeji

Nigerian entrepreneur and tech investor Iyin Aboyeji has said religious organisations rank among the country’s largest employers of labour, coming only after the government and ahead of some of Nigeria’s biggest private companies.

Aboyeji made the remark during an appearance on the Sound Minds Podcast, where he discussed employment, entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and institution-building in Nigeria.

According to the Andela and Flutterwave co-founder, the Nigerian government remains the nation’s largest employer. He argued that faith-based organisations follow closely behind, specifically mentioning the Catholic Church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and Living Faith Church Worldwide (Winners Chapel) as major employers.

“The largest employer of labour in Nigeria is the government. After the government, it’s religious organisations—the Catholic Church, Redeemed, and Winners Chapel—before Dangote,” Aboyeji said.

He noted that these institutions employ thousands of Nigerians across various sectors, including education, healthcare, administration, media, hospitality, security, construction and community development, contributing significantly to the nation’s workforce.

Beyond employment, the conversation explored broader themes such as entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and the importance of building institutions capable of creating lasting impact across generations.

Aboyeji’s comments have since generated conversations online, with many acknowledging the substantial economic and social contributions of faith-based organisations in Nigeria. Others pointed to the extensive networks of churches that operate schools, universities, hospitals, publishing houses, media organisations and humanitarian initiatives, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs nationwide.

The statement has also renewed discussions about the often-overlooked role of churches and other religious institutions in national development, particularly in employment generation and social welfare.

While Aboyeji’s ranking reflects his personal assessment rather than official government employment statistics, his comments have sparked fresh debate on the economic influence of religious organisations alongside the public and private sectors in Nigeria.

Meet Iyinoluwa Aboyejo, the Billionaire CEO and Founding Partner - Future Africa

Iyinoluwa has served as the youngest member of Nigeria's Presidential Council on Industrial Policy and Competitiveness and has been recognized as one of the youngest recipients of a national award as the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON).

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji was born in Lagos on March 28, 1991, to Reverend (Mr) and Reverend (Mrs) Aboyeji. He is a Nigerian native of Isin LGA in Kwara State.

Read: Biography of Reverend Sam Aboyeji

He attended Primary School at St Saviour’s Primary School Ebute-Metta, Lagos. After earning his secondary school certificate from the Loyola Jesuit College in Abuja in 2007, he continued to the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies.

Iyinoluwa is currently the CEO and General Partner of Fund for Africa’s Future (popularly known as Future Africa), Africa’s largest seed stage investor which has invested millions of dollars into over hundred startups across Africa. 

Prior to that he co-founded Flutterwave, a billion-dollar global payments platform connecting African businesses and individuals to the global economy and served as its Founding CEO from May 2, 2016, to October 5, 2018. In those years, he led the company to become one of the fastest growing payments technology businesses of all time, processing over $2 billion across over 50 million transactions.

In May 2014, Iyinoluwa co-founded Andela, Africa’s largest engineering organization that provides training for African software engineers which has provided training and jobs for over 100,000 African software and tech professionals. The company has received investments from Mark Zuckerberg and Google Ventures, amongst others. He has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree amongst other awards and fellowships.