New World Bank documents obtained by The PUNCH reveal that despite nearly three years of sweeping economic reforms under President Tinubu, 79 per cent of Nigerians remain poor or vulnerable to poverty, with 139 million living below the national poverty line and over 86 million still without electricity.
Nigeria’s reform story has two very different chapters — and most Nigerians are living in the wrong one.
New World Bank documents obtained by The PUNCH reveal that despite nearly three years of bold economic reforms, the human cost of Nigeria’s development crisis remains staggering. The findings are contained in the Bank’s newly approved Country Partnership Framework for Nigeria (2026–2032) and its accompanying Streamlined Country Diagnostic.
The numbers are stark. “Thirty-three per cent of its population is ultra-poor, 61 per cent is below the poverty line, and 79 per cent is near poor — below the poverty line or vulnerable to falling back into poverty,” the diagnostic document states. That translates to approximately 139 million Nigerians currently living below the national poverty line, with poverty concentrated heavily in the north.
The Bank also flagged that more than 86 million Nigerians remain without electricity, while three to four million young people enter a largely unreceptive labour market every year.
The World Bank acknowledged that reforms introduced by the Tinubu administration — including petrol subsidy removal, exchange rate liberalisation, tighter monetary policy, and tax reforms — have delivered measurable macroeconomic improvements. Economic growth rose from 3.5 per cent in the first half of 2024 to 3.9 per cent in the same period of 2025. Foreign reserves exceeded $42 billion, fiscal deficits narrowed, and investor confidence strengthened.
But the Bank was equally direct about the gap between macro stabilisation and human welfare. “High inflation, though declining, continues to erode real incomes, particularly for the poor,” it warned, adding that social protection rollout for the most vulnerable had been “slow and uneven.”
“Despite recent bold reforms stabilising the economy and laying the groundwork for the Renewed Hope Agenda, significant structural challenges remain,” the Bank stated.
The seven-year partnership framework targets private-sector-led growth and accelerated poverty reduction as its twin pillars going forward.
NEWS NOW:
