The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
(UNCTAD) says financial and economic crises have reversed recent growth trends
in the world’s poorest nations.

Director of the organisation’s Division on Africa in Geneva,
Mr Teffere Tesfachew, said this in a statement made available to newsmen on
Monday in Abuja.

The statement noted that the development had dampened the
economic prospects of the world’s 48 least developed countries (LDCs).

“Case studies on Zambia, Benin, and Cambodia show that the
recent economic and financial crisis severely weakened the abilities of many
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to maintain steady income and spending.

“It was estimated that the loss in mining production and
reduced exports led the countries to lose up to 22 per cent of its government
revenue between 2009 and 2010,” the statement said.

It added that the largest copper mining company in Zambia
reported a 40 per cent reduction in all supplier contracts.

The statement noted that between June 2008 and June 2009,
the total job loss in Zambia’s mining sector amounted to 30.4 per cent of the
total labour force engaged in mining.

It also said that In Cambodia, the case study found that the
share of households that did not have sufficient income for food and other
essential expenses increased from 62 per cent to 69 per cent between June 2007
and June 2008.

“It was also estimated that 63,000 jobs were lost in the
country’s garment sector during the same period, and that employment in the
country’s construction sector sank by 30 per cent,” the statement said.