Poverty in West Africa despite rise in oil prices

Soaring oil prices have boosted revenues for West Africa’s producers, but the region’s residents are still mired in poverty, with billions of dollars disappearing into just a few pockets.

The Niger Delta, home to Africa’s biggest oil industry, supplies 96 percent of Nigeria’s external revenue and 65 percent of the federal budget. It exports 2,5 million barrels per day, but the vast majority of the estimated 22 million people in the vicinity live in wretched conditions.

Dispatch