The President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari asked the bank to concentrate its efforts and focus in Nigeria on the northern part of the country.

He stated however that it has been quite difficult for the bank to carry out its duties in the region because of the turbulence adding that the nation’s economy had been dealt major blows by falling oil prices in the global market.

Said the World Bank President: “You know in my very first meeting with President Buhari, he said specifically that he would like us to shift our focus to the northern region of Nigeria and we’ve done that.

 

“Now, it has been very difficult. The work there has been very difficult. I think Nigeria of course has suffered from the dropping oil prices. I think things are just now getting better.

“But the conversation we need to have with Nigeria I think, is in many ways related to the theme that I brought to the table just this past week, which is investment in human capital.

“Despite that, there is so much turbulence in the northern part of the country and there is the hit that was taken from the drop in oil prices,”

He expressed optimism that as oil prices begin to rise and commodity prices stabilize, the economy in northern Nigeria would be revitalized as the bank was focused on driving the economy towards positive growth in the future.