Nigeria's Inflation Rate Rises 18.17 Percent

The National Bureau of Statistics has reported that the rate of inflation in Nigeria has gone up to 18.17 percent in March, the highest ever since 2017. The report shows that more and more Nigerians are unable to afford food as food inflation has also risen to 22.95, the highest since 2009.

According to the report, this food inflation is a direct result of the hike in prices of bread, cereals, potatoes, yam, meat, vegetable, fish, oils, and fruits. This is directly linked to the closure of land borders in 2019, a directive given by President Muhammadu Buhari, in a bid to get more Nigerians to go into agriculture.

Inflation generally can be a result of low productivity and production, as well as poor exchange rates and money supply, when money from the government doesn't get into the hands of citizens. The insecurity and attacks plaguing Nigerians in different parts of the country have led to a lowered agricultural activity which has resulted in the high cost of food. 

The rising cost of raw materials for production also directly translates to low productivity, which in turn leads to food inflation, as demand for food exceeds supply. 

The World Poverty Clock has reported earlier that Nigeria has the highest number of poor people in the world, with an estimated 89 million people living in abject poverty. Even more, Nigeria has one of the largest unemployment rates in the world, with 33.3 percent of its labor force without work.

In February 2021, The International Monetary Fund advised the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop financing government deficits as inflation was getting out of control. Bismark Rewane, CEO of Financial Derivatives stated in an interview that inflation and unemployment would take a long time to resolve, with inflation "eating up economic gains to the point where any government stimulus might be too weak to generate jobs."

This is apparent in Nigeria, where the government-funded like TraderMoni and N-Power which involve the distribution of money have done close to nothing to ease poverty for its rising population.