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ProfRem
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Nigerians on Friday lashed out at President Muhammadu Buhari over his alleged request that the World Bank should focus on the North.
They described the request as proof that Buhari’s administration favoured the North.
But the Presidency said the discussion between President Muhammadu Buhari and the World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, was deliberately twisted.
MR. THEIS: Good morning. Thanks to everybody for coming today. I'm David Theis, the World Bank's Press Secretary. Dr. Kim will give brief opening remarks and will turn to your questions.
Just a couple of small housekeeping items if I could, please. First off, if everyone could please remember to silence their mobile phones, of course. When we get to the Q&A if you could identify yourself and your outlet as you get the microphone. Thank you very much. Dr. Kim?
DR. KIM: Thank you, David. Good morning and welcome everyone to the 2017 World Bank and IMF annual meetings.
QUESTIONER: My name is Obinna Chima from Thisday Newspapers in Nigeria and The Rise TV in Africa. Mr. Kim, what can you tell us about Nigeria, specifically your intervention in the power sector, and also, what is the World Bank doing to support those ravaged in the northeastern part of Nigeria by the Boko Haram terrorists? Thank you.
DR. KIM: You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said, specifically, that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern regions of Nigeria, and we've done that. Now, it’s been very difficult. The work there has been very, very difficult. I think Nigeria, of course, has suffered from the drop in the oil prices. I think things are just now getting better, but 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. Despite the fact 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, Nigeria has to think ahead. And investing 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?
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 beings— 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-enterprises and 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. So, yes focus on the north, hope that as commodity prices stabilize, oil prices come back up and the economy will grow a bit more, but very, very much focus on what the drivers of growth in the future will be.
They described the request as proof that Buhari’s administration favoured the North.
But the Presidency said the discussion between President Muhammadu Buhari and the World Bank Group President, Jim Yong Kim, was deliberately twisted.
MR. THEIS: Good morning. Thanks to everybody for coming today. I'm David Theis, the World Bank's Press Secretary. Dr. Kim will give brief opening remarks and will turn to your questions.
Just a couple of small housekeeping items if I could, please. First off, if everyone could please remember to silence their mobile phones, of course. When we get to the Q&A if you could identify yourself and your outlet as you get the microphone. Thank you very much. Dr. Kim?
DR. KIM: Thank you, David. Good morning and welcome everyone to the 2017 World Bank and IMF annual meetings.
QUESTIONER: My name is Obinna Chima from Thisday Newspapers in Nigeria and The Rise TV in Africa. Mr. Kim, what can you tell us about Nigeria, specifically your intervention in the power sector, and also, what is the World Bank doing to support those ravaged in the northeastern part of Nigeria by the Boko Haram terrorists? Thank you.
DR. KIM: You know, in my very first meeting with President Buhari he said, specifically, that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern regions of Nigeria, and we've done that. Now, it’s been very difficult. The work there has been very, very difficult. I think Nigeria, of course, has suffered from the drop in the oil prices. I think things are just now getting better, but 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. Despite the fact 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, Nigeria has to think ahead. And investing 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?
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 beings— 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-enterprises and 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. So, yes focus on the north, hope that as commodity prices stabilize, oil prices come back up and the economy will grow a bit more, but very, very much focus on what the drivers of growth in the future will be.