The World Bank Group has disclosed that Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for 60% of all people in extreme poverty —389 million, more than any other region.
The Bank, in its new study, tagged: ‘Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report‘, stated that “most of this extreme poor live in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa. The region’s poverty rate is about 35%, the world’s highest. To achieve the 2030 poverty goal, each country in the region would need to achieve per-capita GDP growth of 9% per year for the remainder of this decade”.
The Bank’s latest report provides the first comprehensive look at the global landscape of poverty in the aftermath of the extraordinary series of shocks to the global economy over the past few years. According to the study, Covid-19 dealt the biggest setback to global poverty-reduction efforts since 1990, adding that the war in Ukraine threatens to make matters worse.
The new report is the first to provide current and historical data on the new global extreme poverty line. It indicates that 2020 marked a historic turning point— when the era of global income convergence yielded to divergence. It estimates that the pandemic pushed about 70 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, the largest one-year increase since global poverty monitoring began in 1990. As a result, an estimated 719 million people subsisted on less than $2.15 a day by the end of 2020.
The report further said that barring sharp growth gains, an estimated 574 million people, or about 7% of the world’s population, would still be subsisting at that same income level by 2030, mostly in Africa.
The World Bank Group President, David Malpass, while reacting to the new study said: “Progress in reducing extreme poverty has essentially halted in tandem with subdued global economic growth”.
The World Bank President, however, said the new report showed the grim outlook facing tens of millions of people, and called for major policy changes to boost growth and help jumpstart efforts to eradicate poverty.
