The World Bank said on Thursday that Nigeria needs to think ahead by investing in its people and building the needed human capacity that the country needs to guarantee an inclusive growth.
At a press conference to mark the official opening of the 2017 Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim , particularly berated the low level of budgetary allocation for the education and health sectors which he said are critical in driving the needed inclusive growth.
“Nigeria has to think ahead and invest in its people, investing in the things that will allow Nigeria to be a thriving, rapidly growing economy in the future, is what the country has to focus on right now.
“It can’t rely just on oil prices going back up. It has to think, what are going to be the sources of growth in the future for Nigeria in what will surely be a more digitalized economy,” Kim said while responding to some specific questions raised at the press meerng.
In its Africa’s pulse report released on Wednesday, the World Bank said it has seen a modest Growth Recovery in Sub-Saharan Africa and has projected a pick up to 2.4% in 2017 from 1.3% in 2016, though below the earlier April forecast of 2.6%.
This rebound is being led by the region’s largest economies, beginning with Nigeria which pulled out of a five-quarter recession in the second quarter of this year and South Africa emerged from two consecutive quarters of negative growth.
But as African countries seek new drivers of sustained inclusive growth, the World Bank suggests that investing in the foundational skills of children, youth, and adults is the most effective strategy to enhance productivity growth, inclusion, and adaptability simultaneously.
“Thus, all countries should prioritize building universal foundational skills for the workers of today and tomorrow,” the World Bank advised.
Despite the global clamour for human capacity building, concerns have been raised over poor investments especially as regards education and health.
In the 2017 budget, N455.41 billion was set aside for Education, representing about seven per cent of the total budget, the lowest in Africa and against the UNESCO 25 per cent standard.
“..the conversation we need to have with Nigeria, I think, is in many ways, related to the theme that I brought to the table just this past week which is, investment in human capital. The percentage of GDP that Nigeria spends on healthcare is less than one percent,” Kim streased told journalists.
Kim mentioned of the World Bank’s resolve to now focus on helping Nigeria and other African countries accelerate Investments in human capital, including in health, education, social protection, so that Africa can prepare itself for the next phase in economic development.
His words, “..And this is true for most of Africa. If you look at the numbers in terms of how successfully African countries have invested into their human beings versus other regions, there is a real issue. And so, over this next year, not only in Nigeria but in all of Africa.
“We’re going to focus on accelerating investments in human capital we call it but investments in health, education, social protection, so that Africa can prepare itself for the next phase in economic development.
” One of the real questions that we all have is our traditional notions of economic growth which are agriculture, to light industry to heavy industry. How many countries in Africa will actually experience that, and do we need to really think about another kind of path to economic growth that’s very focused on a small to medium enterprise as an entrepreneurship as they have in other parts of the world.
“I think we still don’t know that. But the one thing we know, the one thing we know, is that better health outcomes, better education outcomes will be critical no matter what the global economy looks like.
The World Bank Chief also mentioned that President Buhari has at their first meeting specifically requested that the bank shifts their focus to the northern regions of Nigeria, which according to him, has been done.
He said, “The work there has been very, very difficult. I think Nigeria, of course, has suffered from the dropping oil prices. I think things are just now getting better.
“Despite that, there is so much turbulence in the northern part of the country, and there is the hit that was taken from the drop in the oil prices.
Kim also told the press conference that after several years of disappointing growth, the global economy has begun to accelerate, trade is picking up, but investment remains weak. “We’re concerned that risks such as a rise in protectionism, policy uncertainty, or possible financial market turbulence could derail this fragile recovery,” he arwassx.
He said that the Bank sees growth rise in most developing and advanced economies which is why countries need to make critical investments now.
According to him, this is the time to implement reforms that have been insulated against potential downturns in the future.
“Countries need to build resilience against the overlapping challenges we face today including the effects of climate change, natural disasters, forced displacement, famine, and disease.
To help countries address these challenges, he said the World Bank is working to maximize finance for development.
“We’re pursuing private sector solutions whenever they can help achieve development goals and reserving scarce public finance for where it’s most needed, particularly investments in human capital. All countries need to invest more in their people,” Kim stressed.
Onyinye Nwachukwu, Washington DC
