Africa May Lose Almost Half GDP Due to CODIV-19: Economic Commission

ENA,March 13/2020 Africa economic growth may decline from the forecast 3.2 percent at the end of 2020 to 1.8 percent due to the recent CODIV-19 pandemic, according to Economic Commission for Africa. 

In a press conference she held today, ECA Executive Secretary Vera Songwe said Africa has small number of cases and does not seem directly affected.

“But when you go to the economics, I think we have being severely affected. We have run some numbers; and Africa is now growing at about 3.2 percent, which is already very low. I think this needs to grow at eight to ten percent to be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030,” she added.

Presently, the executive stated that the numbers run indicate that Africa may actually lose almost half of its GDP, just from the macroeconomic effects that are being witnessed.

According to her, the continental gross domestic product is going to drop due to various challenges, including the destruction of global supply chains, tourism, slow down foreign direct investment, remittance, and oil price, among others.

Recalling that the virus hit China, which is the manufacturing engine of the world, Songwe   added that “the process of demand and supply between Africa and the country has been disrupted as you know.”

Furthermore, oil prices have suffered because of a drop in demand. Thus COVID-19 could, for instance, reduce Nigeria’s total export of crude oil in 2020 by between 14 billion USD and 19 billion USD when compared to the predicted exports without COVID-19.