Human capital index: World Bank ranks Nigeria low
Nigeria has been ranked 152 out of 157 countries in the first ever human capital index released by the World Bank at the ongoing annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Bali, Indonesia.
IMF president Jim Yong Kim said: “We provide quite a bit of support for Nigeria in terms of health budget. But we feel that the overall spending on health is far too low, 0.76% of GDP. And also the educational outcomes in Nigeria are very poor.
“Nigeria is one of the most important countries not only in Africa but in the world. And so we feel that it will be extremely important for Nigeria to really go on a different level altogether in terms of their commitment to investing in human capital.”
The report also indicates that many African countries are in the red zone.
Kim further said: “I think that the World Bank has to take some responsibility for having emphasized hard infrastructure, roads, rails, energy, for a long time. And you know, that has changed about 20 years ago.
“But there has still been the bias that says “You know, we’ll invest in hard infrastructure and then when we grow rich, we’ll have enough money to invest in health and education.
“We’re now saying that that’s really the wrong approach that you’ve got to start investing in your people right now.”
Kim, therefore urged African countries to invest more in health and education.