“Investing in those who invest in themselves” First-of-its-kind asset building pilot launched in Nigeria

By Jamie Zimmerman & Shweta Banerjee

Notoriously resource-rich, poverty-stricken and conflict-prone, the Niger Delta region has always been viewed among the unlikeliest places for reform, particularly one that “spreads the wealth.” But this week we are proud to announce that the Bayelsa State Government (BYSG) located in the delta region of Nigeria will launch of a policy pilot that provides matched savings accounts to children and youth throughout the state’s eight districts. This initiative is not only the first government-supported anti-poverty intervention in the Niger Delta region, but the first state-wide CDA policy pilot in the developing world.

Child development accounts (CDAs) have been successfully launched as a policy in developed countries such as United Kingdom and Singapore but there is a need for adapting this approach to developing country contexts. Development practitioners in Africa are moving away from traditional aid-based models and experimenting with new bottom-up approaches that directly invest in creating assets and wealth and improving education for the poor.

Columbia University and New America’s Global Assets Project, who worked together to design the pilot, received a grant from the BYSG to assist in the launch of the pilot and test the impact of the accounts. The pilot will be implemented over a period of three years and introduce CDAs for at least 1000 school children throughout the 24 constituencies of the 8 districts of the Bayelsa State. The accounts provide a means and an incentive to stay in school, save and invest for their futures and also have positive changes in their attitudes towards themselves and their choices. By opening accounts for and matching the savings of low-income children and youth, the BYSG hopes to break the cycles of poverty, conflict and distrust of government by “investing in those who invest in themselves.”

Despite being, or perhaps because of being, the most resource-rich region of Nigeria, the Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta faces extreme social and economic challenges, including high poverty and militancy rates. Youth lack access to adequate skills training or employment opportunities and increasingly become disenfranchised and unsettled, with little optimism about their future.

This policy pilot, intended to address these challenges, will be the first anti-poverty intervention of its kind in the conflict-prone region. If this yields intended results, lessons could be incorporated to implement similar programs for children in need across the world, including places such as Afghanistan where there is a need to make aid reach the poor.

Columbia University is inviting applications for the position of a consultant who will be based in Yenegoa, Nigeria, for six months to start-up this project. Click here for a more information.

This project is part of an overall strategy to build assets for the poor in Africa. It has been well documented as to why traditional aid and development assistance – from both small and large actors – have fallen short in alleviating the extreme poverty that persists in the world’s poorest region. A forthcoming report by Fred Ssewamala, Elizabeth Sperber and Jamie M Zimmerman examines a bottom-up, asset-based approach that draws on findings from latest development and research projects in the region. This report is slated to be published by the Global Assets Project by November 2009.

Jamie Zimmerman is the Deputy Director for the Global Assets Project.
Shweta Banerjee is a consultant with the Global Assets Project. Banerjee@newamerica.net