87 million Nigerians living below poverty line- Theresa May

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, says Africa is home to majority of the world’s poorest people with Nigeria accounting for 87 million of these poorest people.

May, who is expected to visit Nigeria later this week disclosed this in Cape Town, South Africa, on Tuesday.

Recall that in June, the Brookings Institution named Nigeria the poverty capital of the world, overtaking India, a country with a total population of over 1.3 billion people.

At the time, the Nigerian government said Nigerians should dismiss the report, considering the fact that it was compiled when the country was in the throes of its worst economic recession in 29 years.

According to the UK Prime Minister, 87 million Nigerians were living below the poverty line of $1 and 90 cents per day.

“Much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy, yet 87 million Nigerians live below $1 and 90 cents a day, making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world,” the UK prime minister said.

May said achieving inclusive growth is a challenge across the world, adding that Africa needs to create 50,000 new jobs per day to keep employment rate at its current level till 2035.

The prime minister said she wants the UK to become the biggest G-7 investor in Africa by 2022, building around shared prosperity and shared security.

“I am unashamed about the need to ensure that our aid program works for the UK,” May said, adding that a healthy African economy is good news for the UK.

“Today I am committing that our development spending will not only combat extreme poverty, but at the same time tackle global challenges and support our own national interest.”

“It is in the world’s interest to see that those jobs are created, to tackle the causes and symptoms of extremism and instability, to deal with migration flows and to encourage clean growth,” she added.

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The UK has one of the biggest overseas aid programmes in the world, expending $18 billion in 2017 alone.