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Nigeria’s economic future drew sharp concern on Monday, April 28, 2025, as civil groups sounded alarms over a World Bank report forecasting a deepening poverty crisis, urging swift measures to avert a collapse driven by widespread hardship.
At the 2025 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in Washington, D.C., both institutions delivered a sobering assessment of Nigeria’s trajectory, projecting lackluster growth and warning that current reforms are failing to lift ordinary citizens. The World Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report, unveiled during the summit, predicted a 3.6 percentage point rise in Nigeria’s poverty rate by 2027, with over 106 million Nigerians—15% of the world’s extremely poor—already living below the $2.15-a-day global benchmark in 2024.
This grim outlook, coupled with a downgraded economic growth forecast of 3.6% for 2025—up slightly from 3.4% in 2024 but trailing the IMF’s more cautious 3.0% estimate—underscored the struggle to translate policy changes into inclusive prosperity, leaving Nigeria vulnerable as Africa’s largest economy grapples with structural woes.
Speaking to Financial Vanguard at the end of the World Bank/ IMF meetings economy observers and Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, expressed embarrassment over Nigeria’s rating in the Spring meetings.
While outlining the key challenges they also made recommendations aimed at salvaging the economy from the looming danger predicted by the global institutions.
Meanwhile, commenting on the World Bank’s verdict on Nigeria’s economy, President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Dele Oye, proposed some short-term interventions that could help shield Nigeria’s vulnerable population and make meaningful progress in the fight against poverty.
But while expressing concerns about the World Bank’s verdict, the ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) said it was unsurprised by the grim projections of the World Bank.
Read also: More Nigerians Will Become Poor By 2027- World Bank
The Country Director, AAN, Andrew Mamedu, said, “ActionAid Nigeria is deeply concerned, yet unsurprised, by the grim projections from the World Bank’s April 2025 Africa’s Pulse report, which forecasts a 3.6 percentage point increase in Nigeria’s poverty rate by 2027.
“Governance remains Nigeria’s greatest obstacle. The World Bank has clearly highlighted the country’s poor performance on governance indicators such as government effectiveness, accountability, and political stability, which remain among the weakest in Africa.
Public institutions continue to fail in managing resources and delivering basic services, which is also widening the trust deficit between citizens and government.
”Institutions like the National Assembly, Judiciary, and others, who are supposed to hold the government accountable and ensure resources are available for the people, are rather making routine approvals and focus on issues that do not support the populace.
As poverty levels worsened, reports indicated that federal and state authorities, alongside legislators, allocated substantial funds to lavish expenditures—such as acquiring new luxury vehicles and refurbishing offices—placing opulence ahead of addressing critical human needs.
