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Factbox: The countries in the grip of debt crises

Factbox: The countries in the grip of debt crises

MEETINGS being held in India will see top officials from the Group of 20 leading economies discuss how to help the growing number of countries now in the grip of debt crises. The United Nations estimates that over 50 countries, accounting for more than half of the world’s poorest people, are in need of immediate relief to avoid even more extreme poverty while analysts estimate that as much as $400 billion of international market debt could be at the heart of the problems. Below is a list of countries that have either defaulted on their international debt or are seen…
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Nigeria needs more social science research: how to boost output

Nigeria needs more social science research: how to boost output

Authors ABIODUN EGBETOKUN, Assistant Director, Research, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) ADEDAYO OLOFINYEHUN, Researcher, National Centre for Technology Management (NACETEM) SUB-SAHARAN Africa faces some of the biggest challenges to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. For instance, Nigeria has at least 87 million people in extreme poverty. The country’s unemployment rate was over 33.3%, the second highest in the world, at the end of 2020. These kinds of challenges are the business of social science — the branch of science concerned with society and human behaviours. Social science research helps in understanding and developing solutions to complex problems including climate…
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Why is COVID-19 pushing up extreme poverty and can it be reversed?

Why is COVID-19 pushing up extreme poverty and can it be reversed?

SONIA ELKS COVID-19 could push a billion people - almost one in nine of the earth's inhabitants - into extreme poverty by 2030. The alarming statistic laid out in a United Nations report this week is the latest warning of the generational impact the pandemic is having on the world's most vulnerable. How did the coronavirus unleash an economic storm risking so many livelihoods and what can be done to shield those most at risk? What is extreme poverty? Anyone living on less than $1.90 per day is defined as being in extreme poverty by the World Bank, which says…
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Sub-Saharan Africa to contract 3.3% this year, World Bank says

Sub-Saharan Africa to contract 3.3% this year, World Bank says

DUNCAN MIRIRI THE coronavirus crisis is expected to drive a 3.3% contraction in sub-Saharan African economies in 2020 and could push 40 million people into extreme poverty, according to the World Bank. The Washington-based lender said growth in the region would recover in 2021, with economies growing by 2.1%, below 2019's growth of 2.4%. "The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a large toll on economic activity in sub-Saharan Africa, putting a decade of hard-won economic progress at risk," the bank said. Apart from South Africa, the region appears to have so far escaped the worst of the health crisis, accounting for…
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Coronavirus may push 150 mln people into extreme poverty – World Bank

Coronavirus may push 150 mln people into extreme poverty – World Bank

THE World Bank says that the coronavirus pandemic could push as many as 150 million people into extreme poverty by the end of 2021, wiping out more than three years of progress in poverty reduction. Releasing its flagship biennial report on poverty and shared prosperity, the multilateral development lender said that an additional 88 million to 115 million people will fall into extreme poverty - defined as living on less than $1.90 a day -in 2020. The report said this could grow to 111 million to 150 million by the end of 2021. That would mean that 9.1-9.4% of the…
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