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For Sub-Saharan Africa, Coronavirus Crisis Calls for Policies for Greater Resilience

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2020 ‒ The COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak has set off the first recession in the Sub-Saharan Africa region in 25 years, with growth forecast at-5.1% in 2020 from a modest 2.4% in 2019, according to the latest Africa’s Pulse, the World Bank’s bi-annual analysis of the state of the region’s economies.

Related topics

Global Food and Nutrition Security

date:  15/04/2020

permalink:  Main URL

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

  • Economies in Sub-Saharan Africa could lose between $37 billion and $79 billion in output losses in 2020 due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), according to a new World Bank regional economic analysis
  • The region could face a severe food security crisis, with agricultural production expected to contract between 2.6% and 7%
  • The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund have called for a “bilateral debt standstill,” which the report notes should be an important part of the global response to soften the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s poor

Full text available here: https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/publication/for-sub-saharan-africa-coronavirus-crisis-calls-for-policies-for-greater-resilience