World Bank: Extreme poverty rising fast in Nigeria, conflict-hit economists
The World Bank has warned that extreme poverty is growing rapidly in Nigeria and 38 other economies affected by conflict and instability, worsening hunger and pushing development goals further out of reach.
The bank made this known in a statement released on Friday titled “Extreme Poverty is Rising Fast in Economies Hit by Conflict, Instability”, based on its post-COVID assessment of fragile and conflict-affected states.
Nigeria is listed among the 39 economies the bank classified as being in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations, a group that includes Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Haiti, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Venezuela, among others.
“These countries include both those experiencing active conflict and others facing deep instability,” the statement said.
In Nigeria’s case, insecurity from banditry and kidnappings in the Northwest, and a prolonged insurgency in the Northeast, are cited as major drivers of fragility.
According to the bank’s findings, economic conditions in these fragile states have continued to deteriorate since the pandemic, even as other developing economies begin to recover.
“Since 2020, their per capita GDP has shrunk by an average of 1.8 per cent per year, while expanding by 2.9 per cent in other developing economies.
“This year, 421 million people are struggling on less than $3 a day in economies afflicted by conflict or instability—more than in the rest of the world combined.
“That number is projected to rise to 435 million, or nearly 60 per cent of the world’s extreme poor, by 2030,” the report said.
The bank stressed that while global focus has largely been on Ukraine and the Middle East in recent years, Africa bears the brunt of the crisis.
“For the last three years, the world’s attention has been on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and this focus has now intensified.
“Yet, more than 70 percent of people suffering from conflict and instability are Africans.
“Untreated, these conditions become chronic. Half of the countries facing conflict or instability today have been in such conditions for 15 years or more,” the statement noted.
“Misery on this scale is inevitably contagious,” said the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist, Indermit Gill.
The study also highlights why the global goal of ending extreme poverty has remained out of reach.
“It is now concentrated in areas of the world where progress is hardest to achieve,” the bank said.
In countries facing conflict or instability, the extreme poverty rate stands at nearly 40 per cent, compared to just six per cent in other developing economies.
Worse still, the economic stagnation in these fragile states has prevented job creation from keeping up with population growth.
“In 2022, more than 270 million people were of working age in these economies—but barely half of them were employed,” the report said.
“Economic stagnation—rather than growth—has been the norm in economies hit by conflict and instability over the past decade and a half,” said M. Ayhan Kose, the World Bank Group’s Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group.
He stressed that progress is still possible, saying, “The global community must pay greater attention to the plight of these economies. Jumpstarting growth and development here will not be easy, but it can be done—and it has been done before.
“With targeted policies and stronger international support, policymakers can prevent conflict, strengthen governance, accelerate growth, and create jobs.”
