World Bank warns Nigeria’s poverty will rise by 2027 despite resources, as Sub-Saharan Africa faces highest global rate. Urbanisation offers potential

[dropcap]D[/dropcap]espite its wealth in natural resources, Nigeria is projected to see a rise in poverty by 2027, the World Bank Group has stated in its Africa Pulse report.

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Sub-Saharan Africa currently holds the highest extreme poverty rate globally, with a significant portion of the poor concentrated in just a few nations.

The report, released during the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington DC, highlights that in 2024, approximately 80 percent of the world’s extreme poor (estimated at 695 million) resided in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This starkly contrasts with other regions, such as South Asia (8 percent), East Asia and the Pacific (2 percent), the Middle East and North Africa (5 percent), and Latin America and the Caribbean (3 percent).

Within Sub-Saharan Africa, half of the 560 million people living in extreme poverty in 2024 were located in just four countries. The World Bank observed a trend where non-resource-rich countries are reducing poverty at a faster rate than those rich in resources.

Specifically, Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, both classified as resource-rich and fragile nations, are expected to experience a 3.6 percentage point increase in poverty between 2022 and 2027.This makes them the only group within the region where poverty rates are predicted to rise.

The World Bank notes this aligns with a “well-established pattern” where the combination of resource wealth and fragility or conflict correlates with the highest poverty rates.

These countries exhibited an average poverty rate of 46 percent in 2024, significantly higher (13 percentage points) than non-fragile, resource-rich nations.

Conversely, non-resource-rich and non-fragile countries have seen the most substantial poverty reduction since 2000, effectively eliminating the poverty gap with other non-resource-rich countries by 2010.

Looking ahead, the World Bank suggests that rapid urbanisation could be a key driver in accelerating poverty reduction across Africa, provided the right conditions are in place.

While the majority of Africa’s population and its highest poverty levels are currently in rural areas, the urban population is projected to grow by over 238 million by 2035, surpassing the rural population. This migration could offer livelihood improvements for the rural poor.

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However, the success of this transition hinges on urban areas’ capacity to provide adequate infrastructure, services, and employment opportunities for the growing population.

Source: Read more at arise.tv