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World Bank survey to monitor COVID-19 impact on Nigerian households, firms

10 Jul 2020, 04:48 pm
Financial Nigeria
World Bank survey to monitor COVID-19 impact on Nigerian households, firms

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The survey is being implemented by the National Bureau of Statistics with technical support from the World Bank.

Men load sacks of rice among other food aid in a truck, to be distributed for those affected by procedures taken to curb the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Abuja, Nigeria, on April 17, 2020. Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters

The World Bank said today that it has initiated a survey to measure and monitor the economic and social impacts of COVID-19 on firms and households in Nigeria. The survey is being implemented by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) with technical support from the Washington DC-based multilateral bank.

Called the Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Survey (COVID-19 NLPS), the study will monitor the impacts of the pandemic by tracking households’ welfare and behaviour every month over a period of 12 months. According to a statement released on Friday, the World Bank said data from the survey will provide the Nigerian government with timely evidence to guide its policy responses.

The COVID-19 NLPS will cover important topics, including knowledge and concerns about the pandemic, access to food and other basic needs, employment and income loss, and safety nets and coping strategies. The World Bank said the topics covered can be altered according to evolving needs, priorities, and insights from emerging data.

Nigeria recorded its first COVID-19 case on February 27, 2020. As of July 9, there were 30,748 confirmed cases and 689 COVID-19 deaths in the country, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

A report by the World Bank last month showed that the number of poor people in Nigeria will increase by seven million this year largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and population growth. The bank also estimated that the Nigerian economy would contract by 3.2 per cent in 2020 if the virus spread were to be contained by the third quarter of this year.

The World Bank said the sample for the COVID-19 NLPS is nationally representative and covers both urban and rural areas across Nigeria. The sample was drawn from the 2018/19 General Household Survey Panel (GHS-Panel) – a survey of approximately 5,000 households – which is part of a regional project by the bank to improve agricultural statistics. The panel structure is such that it would assess how key indicators that may underpin the overall policy response are changing over time.  


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