The annual report of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, titled the Goalkeepers report has revealed that Nigeria will have the world’s poorest people by 2050.
According to the website of the foundation, The GoalKeepers Report takes a detailed look at the progress being made around the globe. This year, both the event and the report will focus on youth population growth that will affect future world progress.
The report revealed that while “more than a billion people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty worldwide, extreme poverty is becoming heavily concentrated in sub-Saharan African countries. By 2050, that’s where 86 per cent of the extremely poor people in the world are projected to live.”
It added: “One of the obstacles the continent faces is rapid population growth. Africa as a whole is projected to nearly double in size by 2050, which means that even if the percentage of poor people on the continent is cut in half, the number of poor people stays the same.
By 2050, for example, more than 40 per cent of the extremely poor people in the world will live in just two countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. Even within these countries, poverty is concentrating in certain areas.”
A graph in the report showed that Nigeria’s population is likely to grow to 429 million by the year 2050, with the 152 million of those people projected to live in poverty.
Other nations that will have a high number of poor people by the year 2050 include Madagascar, Somalia, Burundi, Malawi, Zambia, South Sudan, Central African Republic, and Guinea Bissau.