Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast
Insight and inspiration on making the right choices for people and planet. We feature bold conversations with global leaders and innovators from government, businesses, community advocacy, foundations, and more who are charting a path for inclusive growth and sustainability. Hosted by Michael Green, CEO at Social Progress Imperative, we explore how the world must move beyond GDP metrics and economic growth to truly improve the social and environmental wellbeing of communities. ©Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast is an essential listening for decision-makers ready to do things differently.
Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast
Two Cheers For Nigeria
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There's controversy around Nigeria, but today, we want to give a shoutout to the social issues it is solving. Michael Green helps us analyze how the country is performing in water and sanitation, education, environmental quality, safety and Nutrition and Medical Care. He also highlights the biggest threats to Nigeria's future.
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People do seem to have a downer about Nigeria. Not without reason. Yeah, extreme poverty is prevalent despite the country's massive oil wealth, and of course corruption is a huge part of that problem. But I want to take a look at Nigeria from a slightly different perspective, look at the positives. So just for a change, here are two reasons to be cheerful about Nigeria. Cheer number one is that Nigeria is actually making progress. Since 2011 it has gained seven points, more than seven points on the Social Progress Index. That is good going for a large complex country of more than 200 million people. And indeed, Nigeria's done so well that it's actually leapfrogged over seven countries to 137th out of 171 countries, but it has moved forward in the rankings. Those social progress gains have included important advances in things like water and sanitation and nutrition and medical care, which have both increased substantially. Freedom and choice and advanced education have also both got better in Nigeria. Cheer number two is that Nigeria is not underperforming on social progress relative to its GDP. Now, that may sound like faint praise, but it is actually a really important achievement. Most oil-rich countries, from Saudi Arabia to Guyana to Equatorial Guinea, will have a poor rate of social progress relative to their GDP per capita because the GDP has been inflated by all our oil money. The fact that social progress in Nigeria is roughly in line with its GDP per capita is not to be sniffed at. Again, school education is so fundamental for development. Nigeria's got to find a way of accelerating the pace there. And then finally, there are two areas where Nigeria has been going backwards, environment and safety. If Nigeria really is to make a leap forward, it's got to turn those around and start progressing. The road for Nigeria is long and hard, there aren't any easy wins here. But it is a country that has the capability to do this, and it is doing a lot of things right, for which it perhaps doesn't always get the credit it deserves. So two cheers for Nigeria. Watch this space and maybe there'll be a third. Thank you so much for watching. If there's a country, a region, an issue you'd like to hear about analysed through the lens of social progress index data, do let us know in the comments. And please do like and subscribe and hope to see you again on another video soon. Thanks again. Goodbye.