World Bank Vice President for Africa Dr Makhtar Diop said on Tuesday that Nigeria’s 8 percent economic growth was insufficient to reverse the level of poverty in the country.

Diop made the statement on his first official visit to the West African state noting that the country was on track towards development with the “possibility” of accelerating its growth.

“My personal assessment of the country is that the country’s economy is moving in the right direction, with a consistent growth of about 8 percent for the recent years,” Diop said according to a NAN report.

The World Bank official listed factors including infrastructure, that would help improve Nigeria, which is Africa’s second largest economy.

Diop noted that the distribution of steady power supply would plummet production and business cost in the country.

According to report, he stated that the World Bank had been working towards the sufficient generation of power in the country and would continue to do so.

Diop also stressed the need to invest in long-term projects for human capacity development.

He said: “Without education, health and other basics of life, productivity of labour in Nigeria will be affected.”

He added that development agency would also like to collaborate with the government to revive its education sector.