Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Neo-liberalismcharacterised the revival of 19th-century concepts linked to laissez-faire economic liberalism, promotes open markets, free trade, and less government involvement in the economy. Following worldwide trends and influenced by international financial organisations like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigeria enacted several neo-liberal policies during the 1980s. These measures include liberalising the economy, deregulating the oil industry, and privatising state-owned businesses, developments that have continued to shape socioeconomic complexities in the countries impacting wellbeing of the people including poverty index. This paper used dependency theory as its theoretical foundation to discuss how neoliberalism has impacted the pace of poverty in Nigeria. Using secondary data, the paper argued thatwhereas neoliberal policies have boosted economic growth, poverty and inequality have also increased as a result of them. Neoliberal policies like fiscal austerity and privatisation have disproportionately impacted rural and marginalised communities, resulting in an unequal distribution of wealth and a strengthening of poverty cycles. Furthermore, efforts to reduce poverty have been hampered by the focus on foreign investment over important industries like small-scale manufacturing and agriculture. Despite their distinct circumstances, Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya are among the other African nations that face comparable difficulties. These results underlined the necessity of a more comprehensive strategy for development that tackles systemic problems and gives localised approaches to poverty alleviation as top priority.
Institution: Igbinedion University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4408238232