Global Poor Children, Africa’s Poor Currencies, & Nigeria’s Prices
Should you be concerned? Of course, yes!
If you ask a common man on the street what's peculiar with Nigerian food prices, the majority will respond: the prices of goods are fond of rising more than falling. In other words, rising food prices often remain constant for long, and many Nigerians have less hope it will fall quickly — and prices proves the people right.
A new National Bureau of Statistics data is also a testament to the people's view of how food inflation works.
The viz below captures the rising prices of some food products in August.
In the same vein, do you know how cheap the price of gas is in your state of residence?
Anyway, whether you consider the price expensive or not, the discrepancy across states may surprise you.
The price of refilling a 5kg in Ondo differs from Kwara, just as gas price varies from Cross Rivers and Adamawa. You should check the viz to see for yourself.
Of child poverty
The extreme poverty trend is slowly decreasing globally, but the number is still a cause for worry for world leaders.
World Bank data shows that 333.3 million children are poor as of last year — the figure for these children is more than the population of Nigeria, the United Kingdom and North Korea combined.
This means 1 in 6 children still live in extreme poverty, despite that 63.3 million poor children were lifted out of the 382.5 million since 2013.
“Seven years ago, the world made a promise to end extreme child poverty by 2030. We have made progress, showing that with the right investments and will, there is a way to lift millions of children out of what is often a vicious cycle of poverty,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “But compounding crises, from the impacts of COVID-19, conflict, climate change and economic shocks, have stalled progress, and left millions of children in extreme poverty. We cannot fail these children now. Ending child poverty is a policy choice. Efforts must be redoubled to ensure that all children have access to essential services, including education, nutrition, health care and social protection, while addressing the root causes of extreme poverty.”
The report noted that globally, children comprise more than 50 per cent of the extremely poor, despite making up only a third of the global population. Children are more than twice as likely as adults – 15.8 per cent versus 6.6 per cent – to live in extremely poor households, lacking the food, sanitation, shelter, health care, and education they need to survive and thrive.
Sub-Saharan Africa carries the highest burden of children – 40 per cent – living in extreme poverty, and accounts for the largest share increase in the last decade, jumping from 54.8 per cent in 2013 to 71.1 per cent in 2022.
Factors responsible for the steep increase include rapid population growth, limited social protection measures, and challenging global trends including COVID-19, conflict, and climate-related disasters. Meanwhile, all other regions in the world have seen a steady decline in extreme poverty rates, except for the Middle East and North Africa.
Revenue: FG 1st, States 2nd & LGC last
The three tiers of government in August received N1.1 trillion as revenue.
According to FAAC, the Federal Government received N431.2 billion, while State Governments got N361.1 billion and the government at the grassroots, Local Government Councils received N266.5 billion.
How is your country’s notes faring?
First off, something is wrong with Nigeria’s currency — the naira currently ranks first on Africa's worst currencies list.
The currency of the giant of Africa is on the top eight list of worst-performing currencies as of October this year.
Sudan ranks 7th, followed by Burundi and DRC.
According to the World Bank, the Nigerian naira fell by 40% against the US dollar.
On the other hand, currencies of countries such as Kenya, Zambia, Ghana and Rwanda featured in the list of poorly performing notes.
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