By Palma Ileye
ActionAid Nigeria has said Nigeria’s 4.2 per cent economic growth in the first half of 2026 is insufficient to address widespread poverty, unemployment and rising living costs in the country.
The organisation called on the Federal Government to pursue double-digit economic growth, reduce inflation to single digits, provide affordable energy and ensure decent wages for workers.
The Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Dr. Andrew Mamedu, stated this in a press release issued on Monday in Abuja in response to the World Bank’s October 2026 Nigeria Development Update.
According to the World Bank report, Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 4.2 per cent in the first half of 2026, compared with 3.9 per cent recorded during the corresponding period in 2025.
The report also indicated that Federation revenues increased by 69 per cent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, while state government revenues rose by about 93 per cent. Nigeria’s external reserves also exceeded $54 billion in September 2026.
ActionAid acknowledged the improvements in the country’s economic indicators but expressed concern that the gains had yet to translate into significant improvements in the living conditions of millions of Nigerians.
The organisation noted that although improved economic performance had helped stabilise the country’s poverty rate for the first time since 2019, stabilising poverty did not necessarily mean reducing it.
“When revenues rise, but families cannot afford food, transportation, healthcare and education, we must ask who benefits from that growth,” Mamedu said adding that, “The true measure of economic progress is not how much money government generates, but how many Nigerians are lifted out of poverty.”
ActionAid said Nigeria needed to accelerate economic growth to at least 10 per cent in the medium term to address its poverty, unemployment and development challenges.
It explained that with the country’s population growing at approximately 2.1 per cent annually, the reported economic expansion translated into an indicative real per-capita growth rate of about two per cent, assuming comparable annual growth.
The organisation also expressed concern over inflation, which stood at 15.39 per cent in August 2026, despite moderating from previous highs.
It called for measures to reduce inflation sustainably through improved food production, affordable energy, reliable transportation and increased domestic productivity.
ActionAid further cited World Bank estimates indicating that about 63 per cent of Nigerians live below the national poverty line.
It also referenced Nigeria’s Gini index of 33.9 in 2022, saying the figure highlighted the importance of ensuring that economic opportunities and resources were distributed more equitably.
On public spending, the organisation questioned why improvements in government revenues had not resulted in corresponding increases in investment in essential services.
It cited the World Bank report as showing that education’s share of aggregate State expenditure declined from 14.9 per cent in 2021 to 12.1 per cent in 2025, while health spending remained at about seven per cent.
