20 Million African Jobs at Risk–AU

By Adedapo Adesanya

The African Union (AU) has revealed that about 20 million jobs are at risk on the continent as a result of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Most African economies are projected to shrink this year due to the pandemic.

Under what AU researchers in study titled “Impact of the coronavirus (COVID 19) on the African Economy” – the body explained that the situation could be examined under as realistic and pessimistic scenarios.

They projected that under the realistic scenario, Africa’s economy will shrink 0.8 percent while in the pessimistic scenario, there were expectations of a 1.1 percent drop.

Earlier this year, Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth had been projected by the African Development Bank to reach 3.4 percent this year, but with both scenarios modelled by the AU, GDP will now shrink.

According to the study, up to 15 percent of foreign direct investment (FDIs) could disappear, meaning that African governments could lose up to 20 to 30 percent of their fiscal revenue, estimated at $500 billion in 2019.

African economies are already facing an impending economic downturn, plummeting oil and commodity prices and an weakening tourism sector.

Last week, Business Post reported that the World Bank was projecting that sub-Saharan Africa will go into recession for the first time in 25 years as the COVID-19 pandemic further disrupts economic activities.

The global financial institution says the region’s economy could contract by 2.1 percent to as much as 5.1 percent this year.

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are calling for a ‘debt standstill’ from creditors to free up money to go into saving lives and protecting livelihoods.

Africa was among the last to be hit by COVID-19, and the response from most countries was to ensure border closures, lockdowns and the quarantine of travellers.

This resulted in a major disruption to trade which the World Bank says reduced access to agricultural inputs, disruption of supply chains and loss of livelihoods could lead to a food shortage on the continent.

The outbreak has spread to 52 countries on the continent that have cumulatively reported 13,814 confirmed cases, 747 deaths, and 2,355 recoveries as at Monday April 13.