Despite billions of naira channelled annually into poverty alleviation, a new World Bank report has revealed that less than half of Nigeria’s social welfare benefits reach the poor.
In its latest publication titled “The State of Social Safety Nets in Nigeria”, released in November 2025, the World Bank found that only 44 per cent of total benefits from government-funded social protection programmes actually reach poor Nigerians, a glaring sign of inefficiency and poor targeting.
The report highlights weak funding, fragmented implementation, and poor programme design as key factors undermining the impact of Nigeria’s social safety-net system, leaving millions of vulnerable citizens without meaningful support.
According to the report, about 56 per cent of recipients of safety-net benefits are poor, yet they receive less than half of the total value distributed. This mismatch, the Bank explained, stems largely from how the programmes allocate a fixed amount per household rather than per individual — a structure that disproportionately disadvantages larger, poorer families.
“Safety nets expenditure is inefficient, with a smaller share of benefits going to the poor. While 56 per cent of the beneficiaries are poor, only 44 per cent of total benefits go to them,” the report stated.
Programmes such as the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP), which target individuals rather than households, are said to be less affected by this issue. However, the Bank noted that the school feeding scheme currently serves only pupils in grades one to three and lacks full national coverage, limiting its impact.
Low Spending, Minimal Impact
The report further revealed that Nigeria spends only 0.14 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on social protection, far below the global average of 1.5 per cent and the Sub-Saharan African average of 1.1 per cent.
This minimal allocation, the World Bank warned, has had “almost no impact” on poverty, with all existing social protection programmes combined reducing Nigeria’s national poverty headcount by just 0.4 percentage points.
“At the existing level of expenditure, there is almost no impact on the overall poverty headcount rate. Low coverage, inadequate benefit size, and poor targeting have resulted in negligible poverty reduction,” the report added.
It further observed that while the federal government claims to have several ongoing intervention schemes — from conditional cash transfers to school feeding programmes — the actual effect on poverty remains insignificant due to inefficient benefit distribution.
Dependence on Donor Support
Another major concern raised by the World Bank is Nigeria’s heavy reliance on foreign donors for social safety-net financing. Between 2015 and 2021, donor assistance accounted for about 60 per cent of federal spending on safety-net programmes, with the World Bank alone funding more than 90 per cent of that support.
The report warned that such dependence exposes Nigeria to funding instability whenever donor support declines.
“There is an urgent need for Nigeria to create fiscal space for sustainable social safety-net programming,” the Bank cautioned.
Signs of Progress in NASSP
Despite the overall inefficiency, the World Bank acknowledged that the National Social Safety Nets Programme (NASSP), which leverages the National Social Registry (NSR) to identify vulnerable households, has produced encouraging results.
Among its beneficiaries, the NASSP reportedly reduced poverty by 4.3 percentage points and the poverty gap by 4.2 percentage points — nearly ten times higher than the combined impact of all other programmes.
With over 85 million individuals already captured, the NSR — now the largest social database in Sub-Saharan Africa — provides what the Bank described as a “ready-made platform” for more transparent, accurate, and efficient delivery of social assistance.
Government’s Target
Earlier this year, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, announced that the federal government aims to reach 15 million households, representing about 70 million Nigerians, through its digital cash-grant scheme.
He disclosed that about 8.5 million households had received at least one tranche of the ₦25,000 payment, while the remaining 6.5 million are expected to benefit before the end of the year.
However, with the World Bank’s new findings, analysts say the federal government faces a daunting task of improving both the reach and efficiency of its social protection framework if it is to achieve meaningful poverty reduction and social equity.
