The World Bank has said that more than half of those in sub-Saharan African countries, including Nigeria, face multidimensional poverty.
This was revealed in the 2024: Year in Review report by the World Bank titled, ‘2024 Key Development Challenges in Nine Charts: How the World Is Off-Track to Reduce Poverty.’
The World Bank’s Multidimensional Poverty Measure captures the percentage of households in a country that are deprived along three dimensions of well-being: monetary poverty (measured using the international poverty line at $2.15 per person per day), education, and basic infrastructure services.
“As of 2024, over one-third of people in countries eligible for support from the World Bank’s IDA and more than half of those in Sub-Saharan Africa are experiencing multidimensional poverty, highlighting how persistent development challenges remain,” the international bank said.
Compounding the woes is climate shocks, which the World Bank said 40 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa is exposed to, and almost all of its population is considered at high risk.
The bank added that earlier this month, the global community came together to reaffirm their commitment to the International Development Association, a member of the World Bank Group.
The 21st replenishment of IDA raised $23.7bn to boost development in 78 countries for 2025-2028.
“Thanks to IDA’s unique leveraging model, this will generate $100bn in affordable financing to help countries spur job growth, deliver better quality health care, improve education, expand electricity access, enhance food security and nutrition, and much more,” the bank said.
The Multidimensional Poverty Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022 indicated that 63 per cent of persons living in Nigeria (133 million people) were multidimensionally poor, with 65 per cent of the poor (86 million people) living in the North, while 35 per cent (nearly 47 million) lived in the South.
Also, the report said that over half of the population of Nigeria is multidimensionally poor and cooks with dung, wood, or charcoal, rather than clean energy. High deprivations also appeared nationally in sanitation, time to healthcare, food insecurity, and housing.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has also noted that ending extreme poverty everywhere by 2030 is out of reach.
“Today, about 700 million people—or 8.5 per cent of the global population—live in extreme poverty on less than $2.15 a day. Around 3.5 billion people live on less than $6.85 a day, the poverty line more relevant for middle-income countries, which are home to three-quarters of the world’s population. Without drastic action, it could take decades to eradicate extreme poverty and more than a century to eliminate poverty as it is defined for nearly half of the world,” the report added.
Some of the factors that have been blamed for this stark reality include slow economic growth, the lasting effects of COVID-19, crushing debt burdens, and rising fragility and conflict.
On the outlook, the bank said, “We are not naïve to the challenge, and this is the beginning of a long journey. We need urgent, collective action to get back on track and achieve our goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity on a liveable planet by 2030. Countries must promote green, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth to tackle the intertwined global challenges and jumpstart progress. This will mean creating more opportunities for women and youth, boosting climate mitigation and adaptation, and revitalising international cooperation and financing for development.
“The World Bank Group stands with countries to support these efforts. This is where our heart lies: helping nations emerge from less fortunate circumstances to enable people to reach their full potential. Our mission demands unwavering endurance—an insatiable will to keep pushing forward through time, setbacks, and challenges.”
