Experts are predicting that Sub-Saharan Africa is set to be faced with one of the most devastating economic recessions in the in 25 years due to the effects of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
According to the World Bank, the coronavirus pandemic brings economies to a halt and disrupts global trade in what will have a consequential effect on African countries that depend mostly on aid and imports.
Gross domestic product in the region will probably shrink between 2.1% and 5.1% in 2020, compared with 2.4% growth last year, with three of the biggest economies in the sub-region: South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola getting the hardest hit.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is testing the limits of societies and economies across the world, and African countries are likely to be hit particularly hard,” Hafez Ghanem, World Bank Vice President for Africa, said in a statement adding that Sub-Saharan Africa will lose between $37 billion and $79 billion to the recession.
The pandemic will have a substantial impact on food production and could lead to a food security crisis in the region. Agricultural production is likely to decline by 2.6%, and as much as 7% with trade blockages. Food imports could tumble as much as 25% on higher transaction costs and reduced domestic demand, says the Bretton Woods institution.
Oil-exporting countries like Ghana are also expected to be hit hard by the Covid-19-induced recession that is causing a crash in the price of crude oil.
Africa is, however, the lowest hit region in the world in the number of the novel coronavirus infection with some 10,000 cases and a few hundred death. This compares to the USA which has recorded over 450,000 infections and mo re than 16,000 deaths.