Much of the progress achieved in recent years in education, health and poverty eradication has been halted or reversed by the COVID-19 pandemic, says the Economic Commission for Africa.
Hopestone Chavula, Officer-in-Charge, Macroeconomic Analysis Section, Macroeconomics and Governance division of the ECA, stated this at the ongoing 39th ECA Committee of Experts of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
The event, holding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was monitored through a webinar on Thursday in Lagos.
Chavula said that fiscal deficits of African countries had widened due to increased governments’ expenditure to halt the spread of the pandemic, with many more countries at risk of debt distress.
He, however, maintained that accommodative monetary policies had been employed to cushion the negative effects of the pandemic on economic activity despite inflationary pressure in some countries.
According to him, much of the progress achieved in recent years in education, health and poverty eradication has been halted or reversed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“ECA estimates the number of people living in poverty to increase by 49-161 million as a result of the pandemic.
“Annual formal job creation, at 3.7 million in 2019, is estimated to have declined by between 1.4 -5.8 per cent in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“The second wave of infections, expansionary fiscal measures and rising debt levels pose downside risks to many African countries’ growth.
“The post-election instability and social unrests which may, in part, have emerged from pandemic-related economic hardships and lockdown fatigue, have induced uncertainties in some countries,” he said.
Chavula added that Climate Change risks, particularly as several countries are at high risk of extreme weather events, could also undermine economic growth.
On the other hand, according to him, the pandemic has created an opportunity for climate-resilient green growth as an opportunity to drive recovery.
He called on countries on the continent to adopt policy measures that encourage green investments aimed at increasing productivity and facilitate a durable recovery from the crisis, and achieving sustainable industrialisation.
Chavula said the countries should also support SMEs and strengthen social protection systems to revitalise livelihoods.
“Strengthening health systems should include the establishment of regional modern health centres.
“There is the need to build on, and strengthen existing monitoring and evaluation, and statistical systems to continually assess and refine mitigation and recovery measures,” he said.
He, however, stressed the need for support from the international community to address liquidity constraints and promote recovery through issuance and reallocation of SDRs, lower cost of credit, orderly debt restructuring and recapitalisation of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs).
