THE COVID-19 crisis is hitting Nigeria hard, slowing economic development and sending more Nigerians into poverty.

Having just recovered from an earlier recession, Nigeria entered the crisis much weaker than its peers, making growth prospects below what is necessary in increase per capita GDP.

Though the economy witnessed a 0.11 percent growth in fourth quarter of 2020, compared to a -3.6 percent decline in the third quarter, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, the economy contracted at -1.92 percent for the full year. Before COVID-19, the Nigerian economy was expected to grow by 2.1% in 2020.

Even before the pandemic hit, an estimated 40 percent of Nigeria’s population—almost 83 million people—were living below the country’s poverty line of about $380 per year, according to the 2019 National Bureau of Statistics report.

The impact of COVID-19 is expected to widen inequality and force families to make increasingly difficult decisions about how they allocate their limited resources.

The best way for Nigeria to speed recovery—and to build a more resilient, more inclusive economy—is to strengthen and diversify its export revenues and unleash its full potential to create jobs and opportunities.

Make no mistake, it won’t be easy. For decades, Nigeria has been almost totally reliant on crude oil, which generates about 90 percent of its export earnings. Leaning so heavily on oil has left Nigeria vulnerable to price fluctuations; the shock of the oil price collapse, triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, is making a huge dent in the country’s export revenues.