By Adewunmi Oluwaseun
The World Bank has sounded the alarm over Nigeria’s deepening economic crisis, projecting that more citizens will slip into poverty by 2027.
In its latest Africa’s Pulse report unveiled during the ongoing IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, the institution warned that Nigeria, along with other resource-reliant nations, is headed for worsening poverty levels — despite modest gains in the non-oil sector in late 2024.
“Poverty in resource-rich, fragile countries — including Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo — is projected to rise by 3.6 percentage points between 2022 and 2027,” the report stated.
This grim forecast places Nigeria among the hardest-hit countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region already grappling with the highest extreme poverty rate globally.
In 2024 alone, the region housed 80 percent of the world’s 695 million extremely poor people, with half concentrated in just four countries.
The World Bank blames Nigeria’s deteriorating poverty outlook on fragile institutions, weak fiscal frameworks, and overdependence on oil revenue — trends that mirror patterns in other conflict-prone, resource-based economies.
While countries with diversified, agriculture-driven economies are seeing faster poverty reduction, Nigeria lags behind due to sluggish oil prices and ineffective economic management.
To reverse the tide, the Bank urged Nigerian authorities to reform fiscal policies, strengthen governance, and build trust with citizens through inclusive development strategies aimed at long-term poverty alleviation.
