Friday, April 25, 2025 - The World Bank has projected a rise in poverty levels in Nigeria, estimating an increase of 3.6 percentage points by 2027.
This forecast was contained in the Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report, released
during the ongoing Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and
the World Bank in Washington, DC
The report presents a bleak outlook for poverty reduction in Nigeria,
warning that despite modest gains in economic activity—particularly in the
non-oil sector in late 2024—structural challenges such as overreliance on
natural resources and national fragility are likely to stall progress.
According to the World Bank, Nigeria and other resource-dependent, fragile
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will see poverty worsen, unlike
non-resource-rich nations which are projected to achieve faster poverty
reduction.
“Poverty in resource-rich,
fragile countries—including large economies like Nigeria and the Democratic
Republic of Congo—is projected to increase by 3.6 percentage points between
2022 and 2027,” the report stated.
The Bank noted that Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the highest
global rate of extreme poverty. In 2024, 80% of the world’s 695 million extreme
poor lived in the region, with half of the 560 million located in just four
countries.
By contrast, South Asia accounted for 8% of the world’s extreme poor, East
Asia and the Pacific 2%, the Middle East and North Africa 5%, and Latin America
and the Caribbean 3%.
The report attributes the slow pace of poverty reduction in resource-rich
countries to falling oil prices and weak fiscal structures. In contrast,
non-resource-rich nations are leveraging high agricultural commodity prices to
drive stronger growth, despite existing fiscal challenges.
“This follows a well-established
pattern whereby resource wealth combined with fragility or conflict is
associated with the highest poverty rates—averaging 46% in 2024, which is 13
percentage points higher than in non-fragile, resource-rich countries,” the
report added.
In response to these challenges, the World Bank urged Nigeria and similar
economies to strengthen fiscal management and build a more effective fiscal
contract with citizens saying such reforms are vital for promoting inclusive
economic development and achieving sustainable poverty reduction.
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