Nigeria suffers $100bn loss to insecurity in 13 years — UNICEF
Nigeria has suffered a loss of $100bn to terrorism and banditry between 2008 and 2021, a report by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has revealed.
The report is titled “The Economic Cost of Conflict in North East Nigeria.”
In considering a situation in which the effects of the conflict gradually decrease over a 10-year period, the report found that substantial impacts will still be generated during this time, leading to cumulative losses in the region of US$150–200 billion in total over that period.
With devastating impacts on human lives, especially children, the loss is about two times the size of the nation’s 2023 $47 billion national budget and almost the size of the nation’s total debt, which the Debt Management Office put at $108.30 billion.
Speaking at the launch of the report, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate said over 6,400 grave violations were verified by the United Nations in Nigeria between 2017 and 2021, adding that the grave violations reflect the compound cost in the lives and futures for Nigerian children.
While the prevailing development is already hurting Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by almost 3 per cent, the report shows that the losses could exceed $200 billion by 2030 if concerted efforts are not urgently taken.
Affecting not only the conflicted region but the country as a whole, the study reveals that as of 2021, the Nigerian economy was 2.5 per cent smaller than it would have been without the conflict, equating to a cumulative loss of approximately $100 billion over the last ten years.
The study confirms that the impacts of conflict are not confined to the regions that experience these most acutely. Nigeria as a whole is worse off as a result of the conflict, and therefore there is a national interest in resolving the conflict.
“Moreover, given Nigeria’s economic size relative to the rest of the region, slower growth in the country may have broader regional spillover effects. That is, regional growth is likely to be lower than in a counterfactual case in which Nigeria was free of conflict,” the report explained.
