According to the World Bank’s latest Economic and Poverty Update for Niger published today, the COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on the economy and could trigger a recession if the many downside risks to economic activity materialize. The economic slowdown has already reversed the decline in the poverty rate seen for several years in Niger, pushing close to 270,000 Nigeriens into poverty this year.
The report titled “Niger – Economic and Poverty Update under COVID-19” notes that Nigeriens have been severely impacted by the combined effects of the pandemic, the global recession, and the economic slowdown in the country. These different shocks have led to job and income loss, an increase in some food prices, and disruptions in the system providing social protection and delivering basic services, in particular health and education services. Consequently, the poverty rate is projected to rise from 40.8% in 2019 to 42.1% in 2020.
World Bank Senior Economist Paolo Di Lorenzo said that “households and enterprises have borne the brunt of the combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on economic activity, which have placed the hotel, transport, and tourism sectors, as well as small and medium enterprises, in a particularly vulnerable situation following the drop in demand. We are also seeing job and income loss in households working in many other sectors.”
The report also points to a host of factors clouding the economic outlook—uncertainty regarding the duration of the pandemic, limited flexibility on the part of the authorities to respond to it, as well as ongoing security risks, staple food price volatility, and climate events, which continue to exert additional pressure on growth and public finance. Niger’s medium-term prospects are contingent on developments in the oil sector, where production prospects are uncertain given the sharp decline in the price of a barrel of oil.
Joelle Dehasse, World Bank Country Manager for Niger, stressed that “the pandemic has disrupted the lives and livelihoods of Nigeriens. We must redouble efforts to reduce poverty and inequality and to restore and sustain human capital gains. To this end, it is of vital importance to expand and increase social assistance programs such as cash transfers to vulnerable groups, so as to offset this loss of income and boost household resilience to shocks.”
To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the country’s economy, the authors of the report recommend a three-pronged response:
- Focusing on health measures to save lives in the near term;
- Reallocating expenditure in order to fund the implementation of measures to protect jobs and livelihoods;
- Reviving the economy, in particular through policies to promote greater access to clean water and electricity.
The World Bank Group, one of the largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, is taking broad, fast action to help developing countries strengthen their pandemic response. We are supporting public health interventions, working to ensure the flow of critical supplies and equipment, and helping the private sector continue to operate and sustain jobs.
The World Bank Group will be deploying up to $160 billion over 15 months, ending in June 2021, to help more than 100 countries protect the poor and vulnerable, support businesses, and bolster economic recovery. This includes $50 billion of new IDA resources through grants and highly concessional loans, as well as an envelope of $12 billion for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The World Bank Group.
