“Although the World Bank acknowledged recent economic reforms aimed at stabilising Nigeria’s macroeconomic outlook, it warned that persistently high inflation continues to undermine household purchasing power, particularly in urban areas where incomes have not kept pace with rising costs.”
It is indeed a world of startling contrasts as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced N165 billion as its operating surplus for the preceding year 2024, just as the World Bank revealed that a shocking 75.5 percent of Nigerians have solidly slipped beneath the poverty line.
In a stark analysis that reflects deepening hardship in the country’s urban slums and its sprawling hinterlands, the World Bank, in its April 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief for Nigeria, painted a grim picture of worsening economic hardship, widening inequality, and persistent underdevelopment across much of the nation.
While poverty is widespread among urban populations, the report emphasised that the situation is significantly worse in rural areas, where economic stagnation, high inflation, and insecurity have exacerbated living conditions.
“Based on the most recent official household survey data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, 30.9 per cent of Nigerians lived below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15 per person per day in 2018/19 before the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report stated.
The report also highlighted Nigeria’s enduring regional disparities. “Nigeria remains spatially unequal. The poverty rate in northern geopolitical zones was 46.5 per cent in 2018/19, compared with 13.5 per cent for southern ones. Inequality measured by the Gini index was estimated at 35.1 in 2018/19.
“Nigeria’s Prosperity Gap — the average factor by which individuals’ incomes must be multiplied to attain a prosperity standard of $25 per day for all — is estimated at 10.2, higher than most peers.”
Despite successive policy interventions, these figures underscore a persistent economic divide across the country.
The report’s demographic analysis found that children aged 0 to 14 years had a poverty rate of 72.5 per cent, reflecting the scale of deprivation among the youngest segment of the population.
Gender disparities were also observed, with 63.9 per cent of females and 63.1 per cent of males classified as poor under the $3.65 per day lower-middle-income threshold.
Education emerged as a significant determinant of poverty, with Nigerians lacking formal education experiencing a poverty rate of 79.5 per cent. This contrasts with 61.9 per cent for those with primary education and 50.0 per cent for secondary school graduates. Only 25.4 per cent of those with tertiary education were considered poor.
The report also drew attention to multidimensional poverty indicators, which further reflect widespread deprivation.
According to the World Bank, about 30.9 per cent of Nigerians live on less than $2.15 daily, 32.6 per cent lack access to limited-standard drinking water, 45.1 per cent do not have limited-standard sanitation, and 39.4 per cent have no electricity.
Education access remains a challenge, with 17.6 per cent of adults yet to complete primary education, and 9.0 per cent of households reporting at least one school-aged child not enrolled in school.
The report noted that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts to reduce extreme poverty had largely stalled.
“Before COVID-19, extreme poverty reduction had almost stagnated, dropping by only half a percentage point annually since 2010. Living standards of the urban poor are hardly improving, and jobs that would allow households to escape poverty are lacking,” the report read.
Although the World Bank acknowledged recent economic reforms aimed at stabilising Nigeria’s macroeconomic outlook, it warned that persistently high inflation continues to undermine household purchasing power, particularly in urban areas where incomes have not kept pace with rising costs.
In light of the worsening situation, the Bank called for urgent policy action to shield vulnerable groups from inflationary shocks and to drive job creation through more productive economic activities.
.CBN declares N167 billion operating surplus
Meanwhile as Nigerians are trying to come to terms with the World Bank’s sobering report, Nigeria’s own apex bank declared, in its just released financial statement, that it had chalked up N167 billion as its operating surplus for the 2024 fiscal year.
According to the apex bank, the turnaround is a direct consequence of effective containment of expenditure, gains on investments made by the Bank and increased income from foreign exchange transactions. The 2024 financial statement also reflects the Bank’s commitment to economic stability, sound policy implementation, and strategic financial management, highlighting improvements in external reserves, asset quality, cost efficiency and overall bottom-line improvement.
The External Reserves recorded an increase from $36.6bn in 2023 to $38.8bn in 2024. This is largely attributable to improvement in accretion to external reserves from portfolio investors, diaspora remittances and Federal Government receipts following improvement in the confidence in the economy, facilitated by better coordination with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), better diaspora engagement strategies, and proper investment management decisions aimed at boosting the reserves of the Bank.
The apex bank boasted that this performance reflects its firm commitment to external sector stability, ensuring Nigeria is better positioned to meet its international obligations, stabilize the Naira, and boost macroeconomic confidence. The financial statements also showed a notable reduction in loans and receivables from N16.1trn to N11.9trn. This is primarily attributed to significant recoveries from earlier intervention lending programs, a deliberate policy shift away from intervention lending and monetary financing through ways and means in line with the Bank’s new stance on allowing market mechanisms to drive credit allocation and financial sector development.
The Bank also said other Operating Expenses in 2024 were well-managed and optimized, reflecting a cost-conscious culture. This was achieved through strategic cost rationalization initiatives, including reduction in non-essential spending and streamlined operations across regional branches and departments.
In line with the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) regulatory requirement on ICFR, the Central Bank was able to carry out an assessment of its internal controls which was further certified effective by the joint external audit team. As a testament to the effectiveness of this initiative, the joint external auditors issued an independent assurance report declaring the Bank’s ICFR framework to be “effective” for the 2024 reporting period. While the Bank’s 2024 financial results reflect operational improvements, some expenditure lines posed challenges. One of the notable upticks in the Bank’s expenses in 2024 was related to liquidity management operations.
These costs rose to N4.5trn from N1.5trn in 2023. This increase was in tandem with the tightening monetary policy stance adopted to combat inflationary pressures throughout the year. In pursuit of that the Bank conducted more frequent and higher-value Open Market Operations (OMO) to mop up excess liquidity arising from fiscal injections at a significant cost.This is a responsibility the CBN is carrying out on behalf of the Federation, in some jurisdictions; this cost is borne by the Government.
The financial statements also reflect an increase in the loss on settled derivative contracts during the year from N6.3trn in 2023 to N13.9trn in 2024. This development is a direct consequence of the high volume of derivative contracts settled by the Bank in 2024. These are legacy transactions which the current management met on resumption of their office. This proactive settlement effort was undertaken as part of management’s broader strategy to Reduce outstanding foreign exchange liabilities, thus lowering its FX exposure, boost net foreign reserves, thereby improving Nigeria’s external buffer and investor confidence, restore credibility to Nigeria’s forward markets and address legacy obligations transparently.
The improved performance of the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2024 is not coincidental but a product of deliberate and strategic management efforts.With these developments, the Bank’s leadership has reinforced governance and accountability, instilled operational discipline, and pursued a balanced monetary policy stance, ensuring price and financial system stability.According to the Bank, these reforms have collectively repositioned the CBN as a credible monetary authority, with its 2024 financial results serving as proof of its unwavering resolve to support economic recovery, safeguard financial stability, and build public trust.