TheWorld Bank has announced that sub-Saharan African economies will contract by3.5% in 2020 owing to the coronavirus crisis.
Thepandemic could also reverse recent economic gains and push 40 million people inthe continent into extreme poverty.
Thismarks the region’s first economic recession in 25 years.
Accordingto the World Bank, economic growth in the region will recover in 2021, witheconomies growing by 2.1%, below 2019’s growth of 2.4%.
Ina statement, the bank said, “The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a large toll oneconomic activity in sub-Saharan Africa, putting a decade of hard-won economicprogress at risk.”
MostAfrican countries bar South Africa have been spared the worst of the coronaviruspandemic. The region accounts only for 3.4% of infections world wide and 2.5%of deaths, however, many analysts say lack of proper data collection mechanismsmean that the numbers are vastly under reported.
TheWorld Bank has warned of potential risks emanating from the virus.
“Greatuncertainty surrounds the scale and trajectory of the pandemic in the region,”it said, citing the experience of European nations and the United States, whichare going through a second wave of infections.
TheWorld Bank also said that the coronavirus pandemic is set to regress theeconomic output per person to 2007 levels by the end of 2021 and disruptlearning for 235 million students.
Thisyear’s economic growth is expected to be hit by the lockdowns put in place bygovernments to curb the spread of the virus, and the impact of the globalslowdown.
