Business
World Bank says Nigeria’s per capita income has not improved in 40 years
The World Bank has said per capita income (PCI) in Nigeria, has remained at the same level as it was 40 years ago.
PCI measures the average income earned per person in a given country in a specified year
World Bank’s country director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, who made the disclosure while speaking on Monday during a panel session at the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit (NES#27), themed ‘Securing Our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now,” noted that the country’s per capita income is at the same level as it was in 1981.
According to Chaudhurie, the country needs to make strategic decisions to set it on the path to realising its potential.
He noted that in 1981, Nigeria’s PCI was $2,180.2 and $2,097 in 2020.
“Nigeria today has real per capita income that was the same as 40 years — in 1981. This means someone whose growth has been stunted.
“I heard the honourable minister talking about the medium term development plan, which has all the right ingredients. It will take time to get back to its full potential. It can’t happen overnight,” he said.
“But our sense is that Nigeria is at a point in time where some critical decisions need to be made. It’s almost like the immediate treatment to halt further decline.”
Chaudhuri described Nigeria as an individual with the potential to become a star athlete, noting that about 3 million Nigerians come of working age yearly, but surveys have shown that they aspire to go abroad.
“I think the urgency of doing something now is because the time is going in terms of retaining the hope of young Nigerians in the future and potential of Nigeria,” he said.
He advised Nigeria to channel spending on petrol subsidy to infrastructure, education and health care services.
