Despite recent macroeconomic stability and an increase in national revenue resulting from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s reforms, the World Bank has delivered a stark warning that poverty in Nigeria remains alarmingly high. The institution, through its Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis, declared at the launch of the Nigerian Development Update (NDU) in Abuja that an estimated 139 million Nigerians are living in poverty in 2025. This sobering verdict comes just weeks after President Tinubu praised his administration’s efforts, stating that Nigeria had “finally turned the corner” on its economic challenges and that “the worst is over.”
While the World Bank acknowledged “big achievements” like the stabilization of the exchange rate, a rise in foreign reserves to over $42 billion, and a five-month easing of inflation (to 20.12% in August), it stressed that these gains have not translated into tangible relief for the average citizen. “Most households are struggling with eroded purchasing power,” Verghis said, challenging the government to translate the stabilization gains “into better living standards for all.”
To effectively address the widespread poverty, the World Bank urged the federal government to focus on three critical areas: reducing high inflation (especially food inflation), ensuring effective use of public resources to drive development, and expanding the social safety net to support the most vulnerable. The Bank noted that high food prices, which have seen a basic food basket cost rise fivefold since 2019, act as the “biggest tax on the poor.” Looking ahead, the World Bank projected that Nigeria’s economy would grow by 4.4 per cent in 2027, an improvement over earlier forecasts, driven primarily by services, agriculture, and non-oil industry.
