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The President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, on
Thursday, said that the bank is concentrating on the northern region of
Nigeria, because, President Muhammadu Buhari Instructed them to.
Kim
and the Managing Director, International Monetary Fund, Christine
Lagarde, who spoke at separate press conferences in Washington DC,
United States, also advised Buhari to invest in things that would
enhance economic growth.
Kim said, "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
region of Nigeria and we have done that.
Now,
it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult. "I
think Nigeria, of course, has suffered from the dropping 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 the Gross Domestic Product that Nigeria spends on healthcare is less than one percent".
He
added,“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.
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".
Kim also
said,“Focusing on the northern part of Nigeria, we hope that as
commodity prices stabilise and oil prices come back up, the economy will
grow a bit more.
But very, very much important is the need to focus on what the drivers of growth in the future will be".
According
to the World Bank boss, the bank will invest in human capital in other
parts of Africa in order to prepare the continent for the next phase of
growth.
Source :Punch
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Business