Nigerian think-tank urges renewed World Bank focus on African development

In response to the World Bank Group Palm Oil stakeholder consultation, the Nigeria-based think-tank, Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA), has outlined the indispensable role that palm oil production plays in achieving economic growth and opportunity for African nations such as Nigeria and Ghana - particularly for the rural poor - in a report released on August 23.

Nigeria is the third largest producer of palm oil following Indonesia and Malaysia. The country provides a clear example of how palm oil, as a result of its high yield and low production costs, is a highly effective means of alleviating poverty and promoting economic development, the primary reason for the existence of the World Bank and International Finance Corporation.

IPPA's report highlights the importance for the World Bank to stay focused on its original mission of poverty reduction through economic development. It argues that imposing burdensome environmental and social guidelines on investment in the production and supply chain of palm oil will unduly shift the core focus on the mission of the World Bank and IFC, and consequently undermine economic growth of developing countries.

The Nigerian palm oil industry provides an enlightening example for how palm oil can reduce poverty and provide sustainable economic growth for African nations. Policies guiding World Bank palm oil investment should not discourage investment by adding additional certification barriers that inevitably lead to a welfare mentality by paying developing countries to cease land conversion and relinquish the associated economic development.

The freezing of support to palm oil production would only succeed in achieving one thing: divert attention away from real issues that affect palm oil trade.

A foreword of the report by IPPA is written by Dr. Matthew O. Eshalomi, Chairman of Vegetable and Edible Oil Section of the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria, who wrote, "The World Bank Review of palm oil financing must be developed with poverty reduction as the single aim. Policies which restrict effective poverty alleviating investment on environmental or social grounds necessarily diminish poverty reduction."

Thompson Ayodele writes for the The Initiative for Public Policy Analysis (IPPA), Nigeria's public policy research institute.