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421m people are struggling on less than $3 a day in economies afflicted by conflict or instability —WBG
World Bank Group has in its first comprehensive assessment of plight in the aftermath of COVID-19 said that “this year, 421 million people are struggling on less than $3 a day in economies afflicted by conflict or instability—more than in the rest of the world combined. That number is projected to rise to 435 million, or nearly 60% of the world’s extreme poor, by 2030. In developing economies in general, the extreme-poverty rate has been whittled down to single digits—just 6%. In economies facing conflict or instability, however, the rate is nearly 40%. Their GDP-per-capita levels, currently about $1,500 a year, have barely budged since 2010—even as GDP per capita has more than doubled to an average of $6,900 in other developing economies. Moreover, unlike other developing economies, economies struggling with conflict or instability have been unable to create enough jobs on average to keep pace with population growth. In 2022, the latest year for which such data are available, more than 270 million people were of working age in these economies—but barely half of them were employed.
The new study underscores why the global goal of ending extreme poverty has been unattainable so far. It is now concentrated in areas of the world where progress is hardest to achieve. Of the 39 economies currently classified as facing conflict or instability, 21 are in active conflict. “Economic stagnation—rather than growth—has been the norm in economies hit by conflict and instability over the past decade and a half,” said M. Ayhan Kose, the World Bank Group’s Deputy Chief Economist and Director of the Prospects Group. “The global community must pay greater attention to the plight of these economies. Jumpstarting growth and development here will not be easy, but it can be done—and it has been done before. With targeted policies and stronger international support, policy makers can prevent conflict, strengthen governance, accelerate growth, and create jobs.“
“On a five-year basis, the frequency and lethality of conflicts have more than tripled since the early 2000s. The toll has been evident across the spectrum of development indicators. At 64, average life expectancy in economies suffering from conflict or instability is seven years lower than in other developing economies. Infant mortality rates are more than twice as high. Acute food insecurity afflicts 18% of their population—18 times the average in other developing economies. Ninety percent of school-age children do not meet minimum reading standards. Once they get started, conflicts tend to be persistent—and their economic effects are both grave and long-lasting, the research shows. Half of economies facing conflict or instability today have faced those conditions for 15 years or more. High-intensity conflicts—those that kill more than 150 out of every 1 million people—are typically followed by a cumulative drop of about 20% in GDP per capita after five years. Under the circumstances, efforts to prevent conflict can yield high returns, the report says. It notes that “early conflict-warning systems—particularly those that detect real-time shifts in risks—can enable timely interventions, which are far more cost-effective than responding after violence erupts.” Preventing conflicts also means reducing “fragility”—weaknesses in government institutions that limit their ability to drive sustained economic progress, maintain peace, and uphold justice.
“Despite their challenges, these economies hold several potential advantages—which, with the right policies, could help reignite growth, the analysis finds. Profits from natural resources—minerals, forests, oil, gas, and coal—amount to more than 13% of their GDP on average. That is three times the share for other developing economies. Several economies—especially the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe—are rich in minerals needed for renewable-energy technologies such as electric vehicles, wind turbines, and solar panels. A youthful, expanding population is a long-term advantage. In most advanced and developing economies, the working-age population has already begun to stabilize or shrink. Not so in economies afflicted by conflict or instability, where the working-age population is expected to expand steadily for most of this period: by 2055, nearly two out of every three people will be of working age—a larger share than anywhere else in the world. Reaping a “demographic dividend,” however will depend on ramping up investments in education, health, infrastructure, and building a vibrant private sector that can generate more and better jobs, the report says.
According to the report “conflict and instability are taking a devastating toll on the 39 economies afflicted by them, driving up extreme poverty faster than anywhere else, intensifying acute hunger, and pushing several key development goals farther out of reach. According the multilateral financial institution “as conflicts have become more frequent and deadly in the 2020s, these economies are falling behind all other economies in key indicators. Since 2020, their per capita GDP has shrunk by an average of 1.8% per year, while it has expanded by 2.9% in other developing economies.“For the last three years, the world’s attention has been on the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, and this focus has now intensified,” said Indermit Gill, the World Bank Group’s Chief Economist. “Yet more than 70% of people suffering from conflict and instability are Africans. Untreated, these conditions become chronic. Half of the countries facing conflict or instability today have been in such conditions for 15 years or more. Misery on this scale is inevitably contagious.”
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
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