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World Bank Laments That Extreme Poverty Is Increasing In Nigeria

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The World Bank Group said the covid-19 pandemic has had a long-lasting effect on long-term growth, mainly hurting the poorest individuals and escalating extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to the World Bank Group, the demanding goals of poverty reduction and shared prosperity cannot be met in the medium to long term with the projected growth in per capita income for Nigeria and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa of 0.7% in 2022.

The bank claimed that poverty reduction trends, which were already stalled by covid, had slowed down even more in its latest study, “Africa’s Pulse: An analysis of challenges impacting Africa’s economic destiny.”

It also noted that the slow recovery of the Nigerian economy following the pandemic and the setback caused by rising prices were insufficient to make up for the loss of income and jobs brought on by the pandemic.

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“Rising inflation is weighing on economic activity in Sub-Sahara. The upward trend in inflation following the post-pandemic period was exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, soaring to record highs in many countries”, the report claimed.

“The escalation of the war has fueled a rise in commodity prices, particularly food and energy prices. High pass-through of food and fuel prices to consumer prices has caused headline inflation to spike.”

World Bank Laments That Extreme Poverty Is Increasing In Nigeria

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The World Bank also claimed that the economic activity in Nigeria is being hampered by rising inflation and that the war in Ukraine has made the inflationary trend that followed the post-pandemic period worse.

“The escalation of the war has fueled a rise in commodity prices, particularly food and energy prices. High pass-through of food and fuel prices to consumer prices has caused headline inflation to spike”, the report added.

“The fiscal space to mount effective responses today is gone because of high levels of debt across Sub-Saharan African countries, rising borrowing costs, and depleted public savings.”

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In a recent analysis of Nigeria’s poverty map, the National Bureau of Statistics determined that 62.9% of Nigerians, or almost 133 million people, are multidimensionally poor. Compared to the World Bank’s earlier projection, which put 95 million Nigerians below the poverty line, the current estimate marks a huge increase.

“A Better Future for All Nigerians: Nigeria Poverty Assessment 2022” is another World Bank research that underlined the urgent need for substantial structural changes supported by data to bring millions of Nigerians out of poverty.

According to the report, Nigeria’s efforts to reduce poverty are being hampered by slow growth, insufficient human capital, flaws in the labor market, and exposure to shocks.

As many as four out of every ten Nigerians live below the poverty line, according to the research, which compiles the most recent data on the profile and causes of poverty in Nigeria.