Author: Caroline Muriuki

Africa’s growth stands to rebound to 3 per cent in 2021 said the African Development Bank in its African Economic Outlook 2020 supplement.

According to updated forecasts from the African Development Bank, economic growth in Africa could rebound in 2021, provided that governments manage the COVID-19 infection rate well.

In the bank’s socio-economic assessment of the pandemic’s impact, growth is now projected to rebound to 3 per cent in 2021 from -3.4 per cent in the worst-case scenario for 2020.

In January this year, the bank released a supplement to its African Economic Outlook which forecast Africa’s growth at 3.9 per cent in 2020 and 4.1 per cent in 2021.

The growth outlook for 2021 and beyond would largely depend on African governments’ effectiveness in flattening the curve of the pandemic and policies to reopen economies the supplement cautioned.

“To reopen economies, policymakers needed to follow a phased and incremental …

The Government of Sweden gave $4.4 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to support Uganda’s COVID-19 response and efforts towards the continued delivery of essential health services for pregnant and breastfeeding women, young children, newborns and adolescents.

UNICEF and its partners have continued to help Uganda in controlling, containing and mitigating the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The organization is mostly focused on strengthening access to essential services like health care.

Due to restrictions on movement and fears of contracting the virus, many women and children have missed out on much-needed health care, including newborn and maternal care, HIV medications, vaccinations and nutrition services, exposing them to heightened danger.

Also Read:Redefining the health system in Africa after the pandemic

“Few things could be more important right now than supporting people’s health. It is extremely important that antenatal, delivery, and postnatal services, along with different levels of emergency care …

Growth in West Africa which was seen to expand by 4.0 per cent in 2020 is now projected to contract by -2.0 per cent in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic the African Development Bank said in its regional economic outlook report.

The virtual launch of the report on 3 July was officially launched by Ghana’s Minister of Finance Ken Ofori-Atta, in presence of other ministers of finance from the region, including Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, Nigeria’s Federal Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

West Africa’s growing youth population offers a strategic workforce which can be used for employment and economic growth, despite the pandemic devastating the continent and global economies, the Bank said in its regional economic outlook report.

Also Read: East Africa holds its ground as Africa’s fastest-growing region

In 2020, growth in the West Africa region which was poised to expand by 4.0 per cent following growth of …

East Africa’s growth projection for 2020 has been pushed down to 1.2 per cent, a rate that outstrips other African regions and is forecast to rebound to 3.7 per cent in 2021, according to the African Development Bank East Africa Regional Economic Outlook 2020.

The projection is under the baseline scenario that assumes the virus is contained by the third quarter of 2020.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, East Africa’s economic growth was projected to be more than 5 per cent, which is above Africa’s average of 3.3 per cent and the global average of 2.9 per cent. However, COVID-19 and locust invasion have contributed to job losses, increased humanitarian needs and will lead to poverty and income inequality.

If the pandemic persists until the end of 2020, growth is projected at 0.2 per cent which is still above Africa’s predicted average of -1.7 per cent and -3.4 per cent under …

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) signed a $200 million syndicated Murabaha financing agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to help the agricultural sector in Africa.

The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation is a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group while Afreximbank is a multilateral financial institution established by African governments and institutional investors.

The facility aims at helping African countries address some of the economic impacts of the pandemic. This syndication is supported by financial institutions and some of the partners who allocated resources to the agricultural sector in Africa.

The agreement which is in line with ITFC’s ongoing commitment in Africa will fund the export of soft commodities such as cocoa, sesame seeds, raw cashew nuts and maize.

Also Read: Kenya to launch Agribusiness programmes to support youth involvement in agriculture

Agriculture being Africa’s continent largest employer and a key driver of SME development, …

Intra trade in the East African Community has decreased to about 40 per cent due to COVID-19 pandemic measures.

“Intra trade volumes in the EAC have dropped to between 30 and 40 per cent in the past three months. This can be attributed to the restrictions imposed on the movement of cargo trucks from the ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam to Malaba, Busia, Mutukula, Rusumo and other border points within the community.” Said Kenneth Bagamuhunda, EAC Director-General, and Customs & Trade.

In 2018, Rwanda imported products worth $134.5 million from Kenya and $2 million from Tanzania while Kenya imported products worth $175.9 million from Tanzania and exported $293.5 million according to the International Trade Centre.

Covid-19 pandemic has seen the significant drop in imports since February due to a range of border measures put in place to curb the spread of the virus.

All EAC partner states have …

The IMF executive board approved a 12-month Stand by Arrangement (SBA) with the access of about $5.2 billion to help Egypt address balance of payment to finance COVID-19 needs.

The  Fund-supported program aims at helping Egypt cope with challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic by providing Fund resources to meet the country’s balance of payments needs and to finance the budget deficit.

The approval of the SBA enables the immediate disbursement of about $2 billion while the remainder will be phased over two reviews.

The SBA will also help support the government’s efforts to preserve the macroeconomic achievements made over the past four years and advance key structural reforms.

The advanced structural reforms will help improve governance and transparency, strengthen the frameworks for public finances, reduce hindrance to competition to move towards sustainable and inclusive private sector growth and support health and social spending to protect vulnerable groups.

In 2016 …

The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank board of directors approved €88 million in loans to Cameroon to finance COVID-19 crisis response. 

The loan to Cameroon’s COVID-19 Crisis Response Budget Support Programme (PABRC) is under the bank’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (CRF) of up to $10 billion which is meant to cushion the impact of the pandemic on health and economy of African Countries. 

For instance, the pandemic has shown the structural weakness of Cameroon’s health system and economy and mostly the limited human and financial resources allocated to the health sector. 

Also Read: AfDB president woos UK investors to take advantage of AfCFTA

The COVID-19 Crisis Response Budget Support Programme (PABRC) aims at checking the spread of the virus, save lives and control the impact on the socio-economy of the country. 

The programme will ensure the reduction of case fatality and improving the …

Since Bloomberg Philanthropies launched its $40 million COVID-19 Global Response Initiative three months ago, 31 African countries have been able to expand their public health efforts to minimize the impact of the pandemic.

The Bloomberg Philanthropies initiative which is in partnership with Resolve to Save Lives is also supporting the 31 countries in building public health systems to help them better respond to epidemics that might occur in the future.

“While many of the countries that were hit earliest by COVID-19 have seen their cases peak, many countries in Africa are just beginning to see a rapid increase in infections. That’s why Bloomberg Philanthropies is supporting efforts to strengthen the response across the continent, including training health care workers, expanding lab capacity, and bolstering public health systems. This urgently important work will reduce the burden on already overwhelmed health systems and save lives, especially in the most vulnerable communities,” said …

The Mercer 2020 gives the cost of living in African cities giving the most expensive and least expensive cities to live in Africa in its Cost of living survey.

The annual survey ranks cities cost of living based on the prices of goods and services such as rent, food and clothing.

The survey is mostly used by multinational organisations to set remuneration packages for their foreign-based employees.

“The Covid-19 pandemic reminds us that sending and keeping employees on international assignments is a huge responsibility and a difficult task to manage,” said Ilya Bonic, career president and head of Mercer Strategy.

According to the report, in East Africa, Kampala Uganda is the least expensive city to live in while Nairobi Kenya is the most expensive city, Kigali Rwanda takes the second least-expensive city followed by Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania.

Also Read: Cost of living to go up for EAC

The report sampled 40 …