ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Nigeria has experienced an economic loss to the tune of $100 billion due to the decade-long conflict in the country’s northeast region, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said.
According to the report issued by the United Nations child rights agency, Nigeria lost huge funds between 2008 and 2021.
“The direct effects of conflict, in terms of death and injury, loss of livelihoods, displacement, and damage to infrastructure, are transformed into long-term economic impacts,” UNICEF said.
According to UNICEF, this is because these impacts reduce the rate of economic growth for the country affected by conflict relative to what it might have been had the conflict not occurred.
“This study provides a quantitative estimate of the economic cost that arises from violence and grave violations. The study found that, for the duration of the conflict, cumulative losses (i.e., the losses that build up each year that the economy is damaged) were around US$100 billion.
READ ALSO: Why UNICEF Is Supporting Nigeria With $270m – Report
“The monetary measures are an indicator of the lost development opportunities suffered as a result of the conflict”, it said.
While noting the impacts of conflicts, it added that the North-East conflicts have implications beyond Nigeria’s shores.
“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,” the report added.
“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.”
Commenting on the development, the UNICEF’s Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, said even if the conflict’s effect reduces in the coming years, its impacts on the economy would still be “profound”.
“Even if we anticipate a reduction in conflict effects over the next ten years, the Nigerian economy still faces profound cumulative losses,” she said.