The World Bank has raised concerns over the inefficiency of Nigeria’s social safety net programmes, revealing that despite more than half of the beneficiaries being poor, the majority of the country’s poor population remains unreached.
In its latest report titled “The State of Social Safety Nets in Nigeria”, the global financial institution disclosed that 56 per cent of beneficiaries of government safety net programmes are poor, yet only 44 per cent of the total benefits actually reach poor households.
According to the World Bank, this disparity highlights a significant inequality in benefit distribution, suggesting that Nigeria’s current safety net architecture—though expansive in design—fails to adequately target and sustain its most vulnerable populations.
“While 56 per cent of the beneficiaries are poor, only 44 per cent of the total safety net benefits go to the poor. For each program category … the share of benefits going to the poor is lower than the share of beneficiaries that are poor,” the World Bank stated.
Programme inefficiencies stem from the allocation of benefits
The Bank explained that this inefficiency stems largely from the structure of benefit allocation, which, in most cases, is determined at the household level rather than on an individual basis.
“This inefficiency arises because benefit levels for most programs, including the NASSP cash transfer program, are determined at the household level, but poor people tend to live in larger households. That is, even for well-targeted programs, the same benefit amount is divided over a larger number of people living in poorer households,” the report noted.
The World Bank pointed to the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) as an example of an initiative that targets individuals directly and could mitigate such inefficiencies. However, it noted that the NHGSFP’s limited scope—targeting only children in grades 1 to 3—restricts its impact.
“Programs such as the NHGSFP, which target individuals and not households, should be less affected by these issues. But NHGSFP only benefits children in grades 1 to 3, and does not yet have full coverage, which limits the number of children per household that can benefit from the program,” the World Bank stated.
What you should know
Analysts have called for a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s social protection framework, including the integration of real-time data, improved household targeting, and better coordination among federal and state agencies.
Nairametrics previously reported that the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) called on the federal government to strengthen social protection programs to shield vulnerable Nigerians from the harsh effects of ongoing economic reforms, even as the economy begins to show early signs of stability.
In June, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed concern over Nigeria’s lack of an adequate social safety net to shield vulnerable citizens from the adverse effects of ongoing economic reforms.
