Browsing: Covid-19 aftermath

A new report by Global Fund has found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on the fight against HIV, TB and malaria in 2020.

The Result Report shows that while some progress was made, key programmatic results have declined for the first time in the history of the Global Fund, which is now marking its 20^th anniversary.

Global Fund Executive Director Peter Sands said that while they had hoped to focus this year’s results report on progress achieved against HIV, TB and malaria over the last two decades, the 2020 numbers force a different focus.

“They confirm what we feared might happen when COVID-19 struck,” Sands said.
The Results Report reveals the catastrophic impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the fight against TB worldwide.

In 2020, the number of people treated for drug-resistant TB in the countries where the Global Fund invests dropped by a staggering 19%, …

Economic activity in East Africa is estimated to have declined to a growth of 0.9 percent in 2020 from 6.6 percent in 2019 and is projected to recover to a growth of 3 percent in 2021.

This is revealed in Deloitte’s East Africa Economies Report 2021 which attributed the expected growth to the projected increase in private consumption and domestic demand after the easing of travel restrictions and roll out of COVID-19 vaccinations.

The report shows that massive job losses, disruptions in food value chains and multiple shocks of desert locusts saw an additional 30 million Africans pushed into extreme poverty in 2020.

“About 39 million more Africans could fall into extreme poverty in 2021 if governments do not intervene with food relief measures,” it reveals.

The report puts loss of jobs in 2020 at 30 million, 10 million higher from the previous forecast of 20 million in Deloitte’s previous …

The United Nations has released a report indicating that there was a dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2020, much of it likely related to the fallout of COVID-19.

The multi-agency report estimates that around a tenth of the global population – up to 811 million people – were undernourished last year, even though the pandemic’s impact has yet to be fully mapped.

The number suggests it will take a tremendous effort for the world to honour its pledge to end hunger by 2030.

This year’s edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the first global assessment of its kind in the pandemic era.

The report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization …

The decline in economic output brought about by certain policies and measures to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the risk of debt defaults among African countries.

This was revealed on Friday July 2, 2021 during the launch of the African Development Bank’s comprehensive five-year Strategy for Economic Governance in Africa (SEGA).

According to the document, public debts had exceeded 50% of GDP. According to AfDB,  Africa has increased its debt at a faster rate than any other region over the last decade.

The bank said that there had been a corresponding increase in the risk of debt defaults following the increase in public debt stock.

It also revealed that at least 24 African countries had applied for the Paris Club–led Debt Service Suspension Initiative.

“The risk of defaults on debt, much of which is now non-concessional, has increased. At least 24 African countries have applied for the Paris Club–led …

Economic activities in Ghana are expected to strengthen faster after the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, experts have said.

Boost confidence

Speaking in an exclusive interview with one of the leading local dailies, economic analysts noted that vaccinating people would boost the confidence of businesses and consumers.

This, according to them, will enable people to carry out their activities as they explore new business avenues for a faster recovery of the economy.

Professor Peter Quartey and Dr Said Boakye while giving their insights argued that Covid-19 vaccines rollout would also boost the confidence of business partners abroad to open up or increase trade to the country.

The government, the experts say, should set economic growth for this year to between 4.5 and five per cent on the back of the positive impact of the vaccine rollout on gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

They were giving their insights on the impact of …