The World Bank has revealed in a recent report that the goal of eradicating extreme poverty in the world by the end of 2030 is not achievable.
The World Bank stated in its latest Poverty and Shared Prosperity Report that the COVID-19 outbreak has disrupted long-standing poverty-reduction policies.
According to the report, the pandemic’s harsh impact on livelihoods resulted in 71 million more people living on less than three dollars per day.
“The number of people living in extreme poverty likely rose by 11 percent in 2020, pushing poverty 1.2 percentage points higher than projections going into the year (extreme poverty had been expected to fall). Thus, 90 million more people were living in extreme poverty in 2020 than had been forecast. Since 2020, progress in reducing poverty has been slow and highly uneven,” parts of the report read.
The World Bank claims that the war between Russia and Ukraine, China’s ailing economy, inflation, and the rise in food and energy prices have all also served to exacerbate the already dire situation.
“Nowcasts reveal that poverty reduction resumed in 2021, but only at pre-pandemic rates and not fast enough to recover the ground lost in 2020. Projections in 2022 suggest the pace of poverty reduction will further stall as the global growth prospects dim because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and a growth slowdown in China.”
The analysis of the report further projected that by 2030, nearly 600 million people, representing 7% of the world’s population, will still live in extreme poverty. They will be concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, in conflict-affected areas, and in rural areas.
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has had an adverse effect on the global economy, with Ghana not being an exception.
Aseven-member delegation from the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) visited the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) to discuss strategies to bolster revenue mobilization and reduce financial crime.
The EOCO group, led by Commissioner of Police, COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, also featured the Deputy Executive Director Nana Antwi, the Director of Administration, Edward Cudjoe, the Head of Organized Crime Bashiru Dapilah, and the Head of Public Affairs Faustina Lartey visited the AMA office on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
The Chief Executive Officer of AMA, Elizabeth Sackey, the presiding member, Alfred Adjei, and the head of the development planning division, Richard Oduro, were among those in attendance.
During discussions, COP Tiwaa
Ghanaian businesses took a huge hit as a lockdown was imposed during the first wave of the virus in the second quarter of 2020.
Many firms had to cut costs by reducing staff hours, cutting wages, and, in some cases, laying off workers.
As the country works to recover the economy in the post-COVID-19 era, the Russia-Ukraine war has yet again dwindled Ghana’s economy, an assertion that has been backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Fuel prices, transport fares, and basic commodities such as water have seen a dramatic hike in prices as a result of the ongoing geopolitical tension.
Amidst the economic difficulties, the government has taken to its heels to seek a financial bailout from the IMF, which has pledged to reach an agreement with Ghana by the close of the year.
Meanwhile, the President of the World Bank, David Malpass, commenting on the poverty assessment, called for growth- boosting policy reforms.
He mentioned that “adjustments of macroeconomic policies are needed to improve the allocation of global capital, foster currency stability, reduce inflation, and
restart growth in median income.
“The alternative is the status quo— slowing global growth, higher interest rates, greater risk aversion, and fragility in many developing countries,” he added.
Source: The Independent Ghana