World
30 million People in Sub-Saharan Africa in Extreme Poverty—Report
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
About 30 million people in sub-Saharan Africa have been pushed into extreme poverty by the COVID-19 pandemic, wiping out more than five years of progress, a report released on Wednesday at the ongoing Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore has revealed.
Whilst some ground will be made up as economies across the continent recover, this will still not be enough to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal of eradicating poverty by 2030 – a target that was already a stretch before the pandemic hit.
The Bloomberg Economics Special Report titled Long COVID: Jobs, Prices and Growth in the Enduring Pandemic highlighted the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic poses for growth, inflation and development globally.
A piece titled Half a Billion in Poverty and Counting: How Covid Derailed Africa’s Development Goals models how a lost year of growth has affected poverty reduction goals in Africa.
The turn of the century saw Africa’s economy on an upward trajectory due to reduced conflict, allowing for better economic policies and increased macroeconomic stability.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s Heavily Indebted Poor Country Initiative in the early 2000s led to a substantial reduction in debt levels, freeing up domestic resources and improving donor relations. Increased trade and buoyant commodity prices also played a role, with GDP per capita in resource-rich countries growing twice as fast.
This resulted in better living standards for the populations — people became healthier, access to basic services such as water and sanitation improved, school enrolment increased, and the share of people living below the World Bank’s extreme poverty line of $1.90 per day fell from 58% in 2000 to 42% by 2015.
Since 2016, growth has faltered. The slowdown started a year after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals — the universal call to eradicate poverty by 2030 through progress on 17 integrated goals that range from health, education, inequality and climate change. Sub-Saharan Africa continues to lag behind on most of the goals. Most notable is the lag in poverty reduction; before the pandemic in 2019, Africa had more than 60% of the world’s 700 million poor.
The COVID-19 pandemic threatens to throw the region further behind. In 2020, sub-Saharan Africa plunged into its first recession in more than 25 years, erasing at least five years of progress in fighting poverty.
Economists forecast that lost ground won’t be recovered until 2024, when we expect per capita output to return to pre-pandemic levels. Sluggish vaccine rollout means many countries will continue to deal with virus outbreaks that delay the safe reopening of their economies. Rising debt service costs will continue to squeeze out much-needed development spending even when the virus effects fade.
The persistent impact of the pandemic on incomes means the poverty rate would translate into almost 25 million more people living in poverty, compared with pre-COVID estimates.
To make notable progress on poverty eradication, Africa will require immense support from the international community given the region’s limited resources. To address this gap, funding from official creditors including the IMF, the largest providers of external debt, remain crucial for sub-Saharan Africa.
Over the past 20 years, China has become one of the largest creditors on the continent and has seen its share of debt owed rise from about 40% in 2010 to more than 63% at the end of 2019. The West’s share, meanwhile, has halved from around 30%.
Beijing is now looking to deepen its ties with the region through the Belt and Road Initiative, a plan to advance development priorities by investing in infrastructure projects around the world. More than half of the 60-plus recipient countries are in Africa, increasing incentives for China to play a bigger role in the sub-Saharan area’s fight against poverty.
Done right, increased engagement with China promises to build needed infrastructure and open new routes to trade, helping deliver on Africa’s poverty reduction goals. Done wrong, it threatens to add to the debt and stymie the development of native manufacturing industry, adding to the region’s many other challenges.
The Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore is convening over 495 participants in-person and virtually including public and private sector leaders from around the world, including representatives from Africa to contribute to new thinking on pathways toward a global recovery as the world reels from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joining from the Forum’s new, innovative group of Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts are Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr OBE (Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone), Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa (Founder and Executive Director of Chil Artificial Intelligence Lab, Uganda), Alloysius Attah (Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Farmerline, Ghana), Nthabiseng Mosia (Co-Founder, Easy Solar, Sierra Leone) and others.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
For the first time in its history, the World Public Summit will be held on the African continent. On 29–30 July 2026, Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, will host the World Public Summit. Africa — “A New World: Africa in Shaping a Shared Future.”
The Summit is organised by the World Peoples Assembly in cooperation with African partner organisations. It will bring together leaders of public diplomacy, representatives of international intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, academics, experts, representatives of the education and cultural sectors, youth leaders, socially responsible businesses, media professionals, and civil society institutions from across Africa and other regions of the world.
The World Public Summit. Africa continues the work initiated during the First World Public Assembly “A New World of Conscious Unity,” held in Moscow in September 2025, and serves as one of the key milestones in preparation for the Second World Public Assembly “A New World: Values That Unite,” which will take place in Moscow on 18–19 September 2026.
Today, Africa is emerging as one of the principal centres of global development. Rapid demographic growth, expanding entrepreneurship, strengthening regional integration, rich cultural heritage, and the growing role of civil society institutions make the continent an increasingly important contributor to the future architecture of international cooperation.
The Summit will focus on issues of genuine sovereignty and sustainable development, public diplomacy, preservation of cultural and historical heritage, international cooperation in education and science, youth engagement, innovation-driven development, creative industries, and the formation of new partnerships among countries and peoples.
The main business programme of the Summit will take place on 30 July 2026 at the headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Addis Ababa. Holding the Summit at UNECA highlights its pan-African dimension and creates opportunities for broad international dialogue on humanitarian cooperation and public diplomacy.
The programme will include plenary sessions, strategic dialogues, and expert panels dedicated to values-based development, education, culture, youth leadership, innovation, and international cooperation.
Participation has already been confirmed by Professor Saidou Madougou, Director of the Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation of the African Union; Rita Bissoonauth, Director of the UNESCO Liaison Office to the African Union and UNECA in Addis Ababa; Zuzana Schwidrowski, Director of the Macroeconomics, Finance and Governance Division of UNECA, as well as ministers, leaders of public organisations, and representatives of the business community from a number of African countries.
On the same day, the ADWA Victory Memorial Museum—Ethiopia’s national memorial complex dedicated to the Victory of Adwa and an important centre for preserving the historical memory of the Ethiopian people—will host the award ceremony of the regional stage of the V International Competition “Leader of Public Diplomacy”, followed by a large-scale cultural programme.
One of the key outcomes of the Summit will be the adoption of the African Communiqué, reflecting proposals and recommendations aimed at strengthening humanitarian, educational, cultural, and public cooperation between African countries and other regions of the world.
The outcomes, initiatives, and recommendations were developed during the World Public Summit. Africa will be presented at the Second World Public Assembly “A New World: Values That Unite”, to be held in Moscow on 18–19 September 2026.
According to Andrey Belyaninov, General Secretary of the World Peoples Assembly, “the Addis Ababa Summit is an important step toward building a new world founded on mutual respect, cultural diversity, dialogue and sustainable development.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Kingdom will get its seventh Prime Minister in 10 years as Mr Keir Starmer announced his resignation on Monday.
The Minister said he is stepping down as leader of the governing Labour Party and will leave office within weeks, scarcely two years after being elected in a landslide.
Mr Starmer says he will remain caretaker prime minister until a new Labour leader is chosen by the party.
Mr Starmer made the announcement after facing growing pressure to hand over to a new leader who can try to revive the government’s flagging fortunes.
He led Labour to a landslide election victory in July 2024, but since then, his popularity and that of the party have plummeted.
His departure was triggered by the victory of Mr Andy Burnham in a special election last week. The popular ex-mayor of Greater Manchester planned to challenge the existing PM for the Labour leadership.
Mr Starmer made the announcement outside the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. residence with a brief statement on Monday.
“The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election,” Mr Starmer said. “I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace.
Mr Starmer is the sixth prime minister in a decade to stand outside 10 Downing Street and announce a premature departure.
It comes the day before Britain marks the 10th anniversary of its vote to leave the European Union, a decision that still affects the country’s economy and politics.
Over the past decade, 10 Downing Street has had six occupants, including Mr David Cameron, who left office in 2016 after the Brexit referendum and was succeeded by Ms Theresa May. She was followed by Mr Boris Johnson, whose tenure covered Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic. After Mr Johnson came Ms Liz Truss, whose 49-day premiership was the shortest in British history. Mr Rishi Sunak then took office before being succeeded by Mr Starmer, the outgoing occupant of Number 10.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A financing facility of up to $60 million has been secured by AXIAN Energy, the energy division of the AXIAN Group.
The funding package was provided by MCB, one of the leading financial institutions in the Indian Ocean region.
It comprises a $40 million revolving credit facility with a three-year tenor and extension option, and $20 million in unfunded instruments, providing AXIAN Energy with enhanced financial flexibility, enabling the company to rapidly mobilise resources and seize development opportunities across its target markets.
The energy firm is expected to use the capital to deliver large-scale energy infrastructure projects across Africa.
Over the past two years, AXIAN Energy has significantly accelerated its growth by expanding its renewable energy project pipeline, with solar projects currently under development in Senegal, Benin, Zambia, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, and Burkina Faso.
Building on this momentum, AXIAN Energy now operates a portfolio comprising 350 MW of installed renewable energy capacity, supported by 77 MWh of energy storage capacity, positioning the AXIAN Group as a major contributor to Africa’s energy transition.
The chief executive of AXIAN Energy, Mr Benjamin Memmi, said, “This transaction marks a key milestone in AXIAN Energy’s growth trajectory. It provides us with the financial capacity to sustain the momentum we have built over the past two years, further strengthening our renewable energy portfolio and expanding our presence across new African markets.”
Also commenting, the Global Head of Structured Finance at MCB, Mr Mathieu Delteil, said, “We are proud to support AXIAN Energy in structuring this facility, reaffirming our commitment to enabling transformative projects across Africa.
“By leveraging our sector expertise and deep understanding of regional markets, we have delivered a tailored financing solution that aligns with AXIAN’s long-term renewable energy ambitions.
“This partnership highlights our role as a strategic financial partner, mobilising capital towards investments that drive sustainable growth and accelerate the energy transition across the continent.”
The financing agreement between the two organisations strengthens their long-standing relationship because it is driven by a shared commitment to supporting infrastructure development and economic growth across Africa.
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