The World Bank Group has advised Nigeria and other African countries to shift their focus away from subsidies and excessive spending, and instead strengthen social safety nets to curb the spread of poverty and inequality.
The group gave the advice in a recent publication titled “Leveling the Playing Field: Addressing Structural Inequalities to Accelerate Poverty Reduction in Africa.” It said addressing structural inequality is crucial to accelerating poverty reduction, increasing productivity and earnings, and ensuring fairness.
The World Bank notes that Africa is the world’s second-most-unequal region, with more than half of African countries having a Gini index above 40, indicating high levels of inequality. The report attributes this inequality to structural factors, including inadequate and inequitable public investments, market failures, and differential exposure to high and uninsurable risks such as conflict and climate change.
The report also highlights that poverty reduction in Africa has stalled since the mid-2010s, with the extreme poverty rate standing at 38% as of 2022. This, the World Bank says, is complicated by the region’s high vulnerability to shocks, low and volatile economic growth, and limited impact on poverty reduction.
However, the report suggests that this is Africa’s moment to make a change, citing the continent’s talent potential, with 8-11 million youths expected to enter the labour market each year between 2020 and 2050, and significant revenue potential from green minerals to support a clean energy transition.
To make the best use of these potentials, African leaders have been advised to develop a policy framework that levels the playing field and accelerates growth and poverty reduction. This can be achieved by fostering strong economic and institutional foundations, promoting macroeconomic and fiscal stability, and ensuring the institutional framework eliminates barriers to competition, prevents undue privilege, and safeguards property rights.
African leaders have also been advised to address inequalities in acquiring human capital and other assets by investing in education, health, and basic infrastructure to significantly enhance workers’ productive capacity. Additionally, they should enable markets to function well by removing market distortions and enabling markets to work in ways that expand access to capital and technology, domestic markets, and global trade, while facilitating job searches for workers.
“Leaders must foster strong economic and institutional foundations. Promote macroeconomic and fiscal stability, and ensure the institutional framework eliminates barriers to competition, prevents undue privilege, and safeguards property rights to allow productive firms, farms, and workers to prosper.
“Address inequalities in acquiring human capital and other assets to build productive capacity. Invest in education, health, and basic infrastructure to significantly enhance workers’ productive capacity. Moreover, expand land registration and property rights, encourage investments in natural capital, and improve service delivery to build productive capacities.
“Enable markets to function well, boost the use of productive capacity, and create jobs and better earnings opportunities for all workers. Remove market distortions and enable markets to work in ways that expand the access of firms, farms, and household businesses to capital and technology, domestic markets, and global trade while facilitating job searches for workers”, the report said.