Nigeria is facing a fiscal crisis. A perfect storm of the pandemic, remittances falling by 28%, and an oil price crash meant that in the first quarter of 2020, 99% of revenues (yes 99%) were spent on debt service.
This year, despite being in the middle of a global pandemic, the federal government cut funding to health by 4%. It may come as a shock, then, to learn that, in 2019 (the only year for which we have data) just...
AfterShocks: Economics
Facts from our Africa COVID-19 Tracker
Total population: 86,790,567
Percentage of population living in extreme poverty: 77.2%
People with insufficient food intake: 33.6% (latest: 3 March 2021)
Children (under 5) with acute malnutrition: 8.1%
Children (under 5) with chronic malnutrition: 42.7%
Country situation
Over the past 25 years, The Democratic Republic of the Congo has been challenged by armed conflict, widespread displacement, and many other crises. Militia, such as the Ugandan Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) have operated in the eastern region...
Facts from our Africa COVID-19 Tracker
Total population: 13.1 million
Percentage of population living in poverty: 55%
Food inflation: 12.2% (latest: 30 December 2020)
People with insufficient food intake: 46.2% (latest: 14 Feb 2021)
Children (under 5) with acute malnutrition: 9.2%
Children (under 5) with chronic malnutrition: 30.3%
Economy
In terms of mineral wealth, Guinea is one of the richest countries in Africa. Nevertheless, 36.1% of the population live in poverty.. The country’s economy relies heavily on mining and agriculture. However,...
ONE’s debt donut shows that 80% debt service payments from poorer countries have not been suspended, despite warm words from the G20.
While the pandemic is hitting all global economies around the world, African countries have been hit especially badly. In the lead-up to the pandemic, there was a decline in official development assistance (ODA) and an increase in debt. And since the pandemic hit, there have been huge declines in remittances, foreign investment, and revenues.
The impact isn’t just economic, but it’s also on an individual level — access to vaccines, children not being able to go to school and learn,...
Facts from our Africa COVID-19 Tracker
21.3 million people require humanitarian aid.
1.8 million people are internally displaced.
792,000 refugees are seeking safety.
Ranked 84th of 195 countries for capability to prevent and mitigate epidemics.
A socioeconomic crisis
As Africa braces for the spread of the latest Ebola outbreak, the COVID-19 pandemic has already placed Ethiopia in an acute crisis. COVID-19 is causing a loss of income for many families who have been simultaneously affected by irregular rainfalls and outbreaks of...
In September 2020, Vanessa and her husband, both residents of rural Makueni County in Kenya, reported to the FSD FinMark Trust COVID tracker, a survey of economic and social issue across seven African countries, that the couple had not gotten any work for three months, and the family was running out of food. Like Vanessa and her family, many respondents to the COVID tracker drew down their savings, asked for remittances, and borrowed from friends to survive the pandemic....
COVID-19 is threatening to wipe out decades of economic progress and development gains.
The World Bank's strategy to support low-income countries during COVID-19 has focused on providing new loans and grants. Has it worked?
Amadou Mahtar Ba, a member of the Africa Policy Advisory Board of ONE, is sharing why debt relief is crucial for Africa to recover from COVID-19.
The economic and health costs to Africa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented by any measure. With the death toll rising above 50,000 and more than two million confirmed infections so far, the continent has many reasons to be worried.
So far, COVID-19 lockdowns have triggered the first continent-wide recession in 25...