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Africa needs an economic lifeline to help it fight COVID-19 - here's why it's a solid investment
May 24, 2020
Sub-Saharan Africa is set to experience a major economic downturn as a result of COVID-19. With global interest rates at rock bottom, there has never been a better time for the world to invest in Africa and its industries. By investing in Africa now, we create a more robust workforce for tomorrow.
It is too soon to tell how heavy the human and health toll from COVID-19 will be in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the pandemic’s terrible economic impact on the region is already clear.
I have worked across Sub-Saharan Africa on and off since the early 1990s, and the scale of the economic challenge now unfolding is unlike any other during that time. The region’s expected economic contraction this year – with GDP set to shrink by at least 1.6%, and by 4% in per capita terms – will be its sharpest since at least 1970.
There are several reasons why this pandemic is such a potent threat to the region. For starters, previous African crises, such as those stemming from natural disasters and commodity-price slumps, have always had a differential impact on its economies. But no country will be spared from the economic fallout of the virus.
Although the COVID-19 disease burden in some African countries has so far remained limited, this is the result of aggressive containment and mitigation measures, ranging from complete lockdowns to border closures. Formal economic activity has thus been brutally curtailed across the board.
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