The Federal Government has announced that its ongoing reforms and strategic programmes will lift between 40 to 50 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next decade. Vice President Kashim Shettima made this known at the DevFest2025 in Abuja, describing the initiative as a core component of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. He explained that the Poverty Exit Plan reflects a moral and strategic commitment to ensure no Nigerian is left behind in the country’s economic recovery efforts.
According to Shettima, the plan rests on key pillars such as large-scale infrastructure investment, economic and financial inclusion, and agricultural transformation from subsistence farming to mechanised, value-driven production. He highlighted that over N330 billion has already been disbursed through conditional cash transfers to more than 8.1 million households, while the Nigerian Education Loan Fund has issued over N80 billion in student loans. He also noted that the National Agricultural Development Fund has mobilised more than US$1 billion to boost mechanisation and agro-processing.
The Vice President further pointed to improved economic indicators that support the plan’s feasibility. Nigeria’s external reserves have risen to about US$42 billion, inflation has been on a steady decline for six consecutive months, the naira is stabilising, and the country’s trade surplus expanded by 44.3 percent in the first half of 2025 to more than N10 trillion. Shettima called for consistency in policy implementation and stronger collaboration with civil society and private stakeholders to ensure that the government’s targets are achieved.
