40% of Nigerian population live below poverty line, says report

No less than 40 per cent of Nigerians presently live below the poverty line even as the unemployment rate tops 33 per cent, a productivity report has revealed.

According to the report, youth unemployment stood at 40 per cent before COVID-19 but rose to 53 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The report said that the development has made Nigeria a key focus of global efforts to eliminate poverty as well as make the country a laboratory for policies and programmes that help poor households to raise their incomes.

The report titled, ‘Aid for Productivity: Innovating Overcome Poverty in Africa through Enterprise’ was developed by the Bank of Industry (BoI).

It revealed that about 700 million people across the globe still live on $1.9 a day, while more than half of the world’s poor are in Africa.

It listed barriers to eradicating poverty to include financial exclusion, women’s exclusion, informality and youth unemployment.

“Lack of access to financial services is a major factor in Nigeria, where over 37 million commercially active people have never been able to access loans. Gender disparity in the market affects women socially and economically hampers the growth of the whole economy.

“Of Africa’s approximately 90 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMES), only about 15 per cent are registered with governments or tax authorities,” it said.