The World Bank has attributed 50 per cent decline in economic activities to terrorism and kidnappings in the North East.
Co-author of a World Bank Report, Marco Hernandez, disclosed that economic activities in the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, however, declined from 10 to 14 per cent between 2009 and 2013.
According to the economist, economic activities in the Lake Chad region further declined by 50 per cent since 2018.
“In Northern Nigeria, we see that 50 per cent or more of crop yields have been affected as a result of conflict,” he said.
He added that issues related to climate change were also responsible for the further decline in activities in the agricultural sector of the economy.
On how insurgency affects border countries, he said: “Boko Haram is not just on those places where insurgency happens. It also affects neighbouring countries of Niger, Chad and Cameroun, where the actual attacks happen as well.”
Hernandez asserted that for the region to grow, the bank should enhance trade and improve infrastructure to move people, goods and services.
According to him, World Bank’s intervention could also improve governance and the management of natural resources, noting that security is the underlying precondition for developing the Lake Chad region.
He suggested that the bank should focus on four key areas that are essential to help break the cycle of poverty and unemployment.
Responding, the Country Director for World Bank in Nigeria, Mr. Shubham Chaudhuri, advised Nigeria to urgently tackle insecurity to enhance growth, especially in the North East.
“An institution like the World Bank, we are for development and, for that, we need peace and security to proceed with development,” he said.
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