The impact of COVID‐19 on African economies: An introduction

Abstract

Over the last 14 months, Africa and the entire world experienced the worst Socioeconomic challenges of alarming proportion. Specifically, on 30 December 2019, an epidemiological alert was issued by the Chinese Wuhan local health authority of the emergence of a new strand of the coronavirus—severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)—which causes what has come to be known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Africa's first case of COVID-19 was recorded in Egypt on 14 February 2020, followed by Nigeria on 27 February 2020. Early in March 2020, Algeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Senegal, South Africa, Togo and Tunisia reported positive cases. From then, the virus spread to all over Africa as in other parts of the globe. With the exception of a few, most governments all over the world initially downplayed the pandemic until it turned to sustained community-level transmission. Once governments noticed cases getting out of hand, the first response became mask mandates, closure of the international borders, with more stringent social distancing measures, and subsequent physical restrictions (lockdowns and shutdowns) of the Socioeconomic activities to restrict human movements, excepting those on essential services like medical and security personnel. Testing, tracking, therapeutic management of those infected as well as quarantines and isolation of positive cases became the norm. Governments’ economic responses included fiscal (budget support for the health sector, through either re-prioritization or expansionary policy), expansionary monetary and macro-financial policies, as well as exchange rate/balance of payments adjustments. These responses were adjusted according to local country conditions as the pandemic progressed. Following the approval of some vaccines for emergency use in developed countries, vaccination is gradually progressing in Africa—after what was dubbed ‘vaccine nationalism’ in parts of Europe, preventing the exportation of vaccines to Africa, and thus prompting the intervention of Covax (the GAVI Vaccine Alliance) to help procure vaccines for African countries. International financial institutions (including the African Development Bank) collectively mobilized a global response package of US$230 billion between 2020 and 2021, to aid the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. The funds were raised to reduce the pandemic's impact, of which US$75 billion were to be directed to the world's poorest countries in 2020. The African Development Bank (AfDB) in April 2020 created the US$10 billion COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility (CRF), and launched a US$3 billion ‘Fight COVID-19 Social Bond’, the largest of its kind at the time to combat the crisis. Also, AfDB approved a grant of US$27.33 million to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) meant to support the continental strategy on COVID-19. There is also the African Union (AU) COVID-19 Response Fund, aimed at raising resources to strengthen the continental response to COVID-19 by supporting pool procurement of diagnostics and other medical commodities by Africa CDC for distribution to the Member States, and mitigating the pandemic's Socioeconomic and humanitarian impact on African populations. All entities and individuals can contribute to the fund, provided that the objectives and purpose of these are not inconsistent with the AU's purpose and objectives. We note that highly contagious mutants of the SARS-Cov-2 variants have emerged in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351), Brazil (P.1, which causes the E484K mutation), California (L452R), New York (B.1.526) and India (new ‘double mutant’ variant—L452R and E484Q mutations coming together), among others. These have engaged experts to determine their impacts, especially their impact on the effectiveness of vaccines approved so far for emergency use—Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson (mostly deployed in the United States and a few developed countries) and AstraZeneca (mostly being used in the United Kingdom, parts of Europe and Africa). The rest of this introduction to the special issue can be adumbrated as follows. Section 2 examines COVID-19 confirmed and active cases in Africa. Section 3 discusses the Socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 on African economies, and Section 4 summarizes the papers selected for this special issue. Section 5 presents a brief conclusion. As the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated, Socioeconomic damage was increasing in Africa and all over the world. However, the curve of the pandemic within and outside the continent is flattening gradually in some individual countries while rising in others. Accordingly, as of 7 March 2021, about a year after the first coronavirus was detected in Africa, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases had reached 116,830,061 globally, the majority of which (30.2%) occurred in Europe, followed by North America (28.6%), Asia (21.9%), South America (15.9%) and Africa (3,964,055 or 3.4%). It must be noted that though Africa's reported confirmed cases (see Figure 1) are the lowest globally, testing has been extremely low in the continent. Source: Authors, using African Development Bank (2021a) From a regional perspective, confirmed cases were highest in Southern Africa (47.4%), followed by North Africa (29.8%), West Africa (10.13%), East Africa (10.12%), and central Africa (2.6%) (see also Figure 2). On a country basis, 78.7% of confirmed cases were in nine countries, namely South Africa (38.4%), Morocco (12.3%), Tunisia (6.0%), Egypt (4.7%), Ethiopia (4.2%), Nigeria (4.0%), Libya (3.5%), Algeria (2.9%) and Kenya (2.7%). Source: Authors, using African Development Bank (2021a) The number of global active cases reached 40,250,009 as of 7 March 2021 against Africa's 317,794. Active cases in Africa showed a downward trend from the end of December 2020 (see Figure 1). From a regional perspective, North Africa accounted for 33.6% of active cases in Africa, followed by East Africa (27.7%), Southern Africa (23.3%), West Africa (12.2%), and Central Africa (3.2%) (see also Figure On a country basis, countries for of the active cases in Africa as of this These countries are Algeria Egypt South Africa Tunisia Ethiopia and Source: Authors, using African Development Bank (2021a) of new a case of 2020 and December be noticed in Africa, as in Figure a is Source: Authors, using from As with in in in and in and of economic and the effects on and through and while and and rising of The effects have been by the the health or of social to and responses (including their The COVID-19 pandemic and the deployed by governments and institutions to its social and of on African African governments with to and to economic the central have and on an in the it is not that the pandemic and the to it have on African economies, economic Specifically, some of the of the COVID-19 pandemic are The human of COVID-19 has been from the human of the confirmed of human has been The number of global to coronavirus reached by 7 March 2021, with Africa for at (see Figure as Southern Africa accounted for of African at that followed by North Africa East Africa West Africa and Central Africa (see Figure 5 On country basis, countries with the highest number of reported to COVID-19 the of the were South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria, from in South Africa to in Source: Authors, using African Development Bank (2021a) The case or confirmed cases for Africa at by 7 March was the global of From a regional perspective, West Africa had the lowest at followed by Central Africa at East Africa at North Africa at and Southern Africa at which was the African From a country perspective, as of 7 March 2021, African countries, namely Egypt (4.2%), (4.2%), Tunisia (3.5%), South Africa The (2.9%) and recorded case or to the African As Figure followed the of confirmed cases in Figure Source: Authors, using from of had been in Africa, of total global as of March of the African total to Morocco for of the However, with to the vaccines to has vaccines to of its after which has Development Africa has been by the COVID-19 with the African Development Bank that economic in the continent by in 2020. is to at a of in 2021 to in (see Figure by an in of a of of COVID-19 and in countries, in the continent and its However, the African regional Africa's the in of economic is Southern Africa, is to have by in 2020. It is followed by Central Africa West Africa and North Africa East Africa, which is on an in 2020 The African with to As in Figure among countries, Libya was the with a in in 2020 at followed by Algeria and Nigeria and economies, was to have by followed by South Africa and were not to the was to have by followed by and Source: Authors, using African Development Bank from the in economic in Africa, other have as a of the COVID-19 pandemic. as African Development Bank has exchange occurred in Africa as a of the in financial and exchange the continent about the on in the first of 2020. Also, according to the African Development Bank in Africa at in 2020, and has in countries. were in 2020 in African countries, as in some countries as Kenya and South Africa. However, or in response to and in Nigeria and in some countries, rising and prompting some governments to to support the sector, and to the The COVID-19 a new of in central that in most countries, the has far the on and The of monetary a number of countries in the continent in the of 2020, in countries countries, rising have the monetary The year 2020 a in as economic and is to have reached of at the end of 2020 with in 2019 Fund, in for as on to of economies, governments (including and their Africa's fiscal have been to have in 2020 to a of of in though a is in 2021 and Development With the financial resources to the spread of the virus and its impact on African economies, countries to and the of an crisis. The from for emergency funds to support the health responses to the as resources were to with the of the governments financial and fiscal to the effects on and resources were also to COVID-19 to and and The African Development Bank that African governments of about billion in to to the COVID-19 pandemic. the a of has at of it is to in the to by the African Development Bank that international to Africa from billion in 2019 to billion in 2020, with and the most to Bank to Africa are to by between 2019 and 2020, from billion to billion to the COVID-19 restrictions in and their on the global trend is to in 2021 are to by to billion The in to is to a of all by the COVID-19 in countries of the African countries, the United States, and are in countries as are in conditions and with to and of and are from social health and for the of in 2020 Nigeria Kenya and to the East and North Africa are to by about in 2020 from an billion in 2019 to billion in and about in The in to the can be to the of the global to the 2020, Egypt is to in Morocco and Tunisia 2020 in North Africa are Egypt Morocco Tunisia and Algeria The in to African countries has to a in these exchange an in and and a in the and its as These are the of the few The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on for 2020 is especially with fiscal in countries to the spread of the pandemic and to support and to reduce the of the crisis. With to it is by the United on and Development that the COVID-19 pandemic a in in 2020. The pandemic is to have an impact in 2020, with a in that global by to in 2020, from their 2019 of to thus for the first time 2019, to Africa by from billion to billion to have to billion in 2020, a of in 2020. The this the impact of the the health emergency as well as the damage of that governments the world are to support and The were by low experienced in of 2020. It was also that for Africa, and by while and international by billion in 2019 to billion in and North Africa an of billion in 2020, from billion in It is to that Egypt the largest of in 2020 at an in of a of North Africa, was at an of its on the other hand, an of a of from to low in of 2020, with the closure of at the of the COVID-19 pandemic as a of restrictions of movements, to Nigeria from billion in 2019 to billion in 2020. to South Africa to billion in 2020 from billion in 2019, though a number of were to Ethiopia and by and was of the few countries with in 2020 as it a over the year the African in 2020 was the lowest in the last a in and by and with 2019 The in by in 2020 to billion was raised from to billion raised from in on the downward trend in the 4 with recorded in 2020, the lowest in billion was raised through the in 2020 with billion raised in 2020, from African that March in Egypt 30 Kenya Morocco and As a of the of global and restrictions to the spread of the most and was so for those commodities used in the the of COVID-19 and the to its an in and a in Source: Authors, using from the Source: Authors, using As and were most with the by between the first of the virus were its in April 2020. The at a in 2020. March 2020 the largest in on The also the largest in The restrictions to the have in in and which for of and other economic Africa's an in their and exchange thus in and on the was a of their fiscal which were the COVID-19 in by between 2020 and April 2020, more as as at the of the global financial of However, the for by from to experienced 2020, their with economic Development However, some African countries experienced to from which the at the global As and most over the of 2020. as among the of the However, this was more the in other as in has been United on and Development that global and in the first of 2020 to the COVID-19 pandemic. of 2020 a in which by from the It also that and of global are to in the by and and for 2020 are to be and in 2019, United on and Development that this be the lowest for the financial and the for The from that the by and in and The from in the last of 2019 to in of 2020, and to in of 2020 to in the of 2020. On the other hand, the by and in and Also, the from in the last of 2019 to in of 2020, and to in of 2020 to in the of 2020. The African Development Bank that Africa's by in in 2020, in the of the As a of the in among countries are to by of of in 2020 and 2021, while the of the in by as as 4 5 of in new that the of the global the international in with the of more from the an of in These new that the not be reached either of these COVID-19 effects of the that all at or to about the for Africa. in Africa, for the in by the pandemic of the largest in some 27 million to million new the number of were on the of the of COVID-19 are to by at 3 in Africa. by African Development Bank that about 30 million were in 2020 as a of the pandemic. It is also that about million in those with of few and in are most African Development Bank that the monetary of the to the be billion for 2021, about million on and is to as a of the impact of the pandemic on as and to the Bank COVID-19 has created the worst to and in a It that COVID-19 is on the of and the of and by the COVID-19 pandemic is the global and is in Africa, for the was to that about of all in not and a The African Development Bank the that the COVID-19 pandemic has for human in Africa, as all African countries for a of the COVID-19 pandemic. It that the 2020 in Africa were for more on a of some African as East Africa and North Africa, were for of in East Africa and in North Africa. These mask individual country in some countries, as and South were for more in the 2020 most or were not are to and and which was at the COVID-19 pandemic. as are more to out of and are also more to and and the COVID-19 pandemic an to and and and and are in to the COVID-19 pandemic. The that as of 2020, of reported closure of and in their countries to to the spread of the pandemic. countries of closure was reported by the majority of the reported closure in Africa. African countries that reported closure are and South Africa. of the from Africa reported or was provided to to the COVID-19 pandemic. in Africa, the of the reported against in Europe and Central Asia and over in the has been of the most the COVID-19 crisis. to 2020 was the worst year in with billion international of from the in and restrictions the pandemic with the recorded the global economic crisis. The in international an of in the recorded the global economic crisis. the pandemic has between and million at of are in and a global of US$3 to to Africa recorded a in international which from million in 2019 to million in 2020. Africa's is to Asia and the of Africa's largest was in April 2020, followed by 2020 the of a in 2021 to have as experts for and with and increasing from the International that African experienced a of billion in 2020 while billion the Africa's at while the impact on in 2020 to 2019 was a of the of the of COVID-19 on African economies, the African Development is this special issue of COVID-19 on African The issue the impact of COVID-19 on African with an on papers that the of this and other as well as The papers are the papers that through the and issue papers and and on the of the impact of COVID-19 on African an of the papers selected for this The by and is a the of COVID-19 in Africa a The the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on African and using a The pandemic is as a that African economic activities and the of their and The is to for a of African The that COVID-19 in the and and of These to an economic in Africa and fiscal and is to in Africa, in the of the poorest at The also the to the effects of fiscal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. at of the on the in this the of the COVID-19 pandemic on in Cameroon, using from a by the of on a of from April to 2020. The that a of from and the of that the in the of to in and the of have a impact on and of The closure or of activities has this of the in are more their in while is the most The the of a new that physical while to support those their especially in the The by is Africa from the Social of COVID-19 to for the and in the The and to and from African countries, that testing for of and for of the as of international through of international and and were to be in COVID-19 and the The also that stringent be are with to and with humanitarian to the poorest of the The that African governments and social to stringent and to a of among others. at COVID-19 The to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on to of an in countries. the impact of COVID-19 on by in by and and the that in countries, and is a of of the of the to the COVID-19 pandemic. the number of new is to between 4 and million at the The that the is more in some countries as Senegal, and that of these to responses to the of this health crisis. and COVID-19 in is the of the by and The the security of the pandemic and its using the COVID-19 that of the were were were and over of the experienced that over of were by in also that and are the of security the pandemic. With the of support and their that and be well and with and and of the COVID-19 on in The a that the of the COVID-19 pandemic on in the economic in Cameroon, for the of the of the in the that economic as and and special as have experienced the most The support from the to in these and in is the of the by and The the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the of and local in The with for a using of and that the COVID-19 pandemic to in in the countries. restrictions on or in the of COVID-19 were with an in the of However, exchange and a on The that governments of countries in that in the to support to in the also and and and from the COVID-19 the the that after from to as a of the COVID-19 pandemic. use responses from and the in the between and at a South African that was with to using and for to and a for through and over or recorded that and the of be for mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on is COVID-19 of the by The first the in the with the and the in the with as to the or used so far to the economic impact of COVID-19 on African economies, these of the and and the to the economic of the the infected and the of the disease as of the pandemic's The on on and on and for all the the of COVID-19 to a in over the the of the be more over this in the in the As a the that in to aimed not at the spread of the also at and at The by is on and in the West African and Union It a effects for the impact of responses to the pandemic and their effects on the for countries over the 2020. the and the COVID-19 confirmed cases the while the responses has a impact on the to COVID-19 in other countries have a positive and impact on the world and These that the of in response to the pandemic for the of the of COVID-19 that international are among the of in countries, the also the of regional and in the of the COVID-19 pandemic. and of in from the social on the most for that the country a in billion or the to the case the of the come from the services restrictions were on the sector, which is the of for the a in to its with the rest of the The and effects by and of The also and on the of COVID-19 by the end of 2020. The and resources can help the to in an most by and resources are mobilized to support with the highest examines between and in the of from The the of as a for while are used as a for on the the is to the of the The the of a from to the of These that the of in a that can their to in the of especially in the of social The of the are on from and other is the of the by and the the impact of COVID-19 on the and of using a on the of and that South Africa, and are at from the COVID-19 followed by a of countries of and South Africa and to more in though it in its All these countries in their with and for South Africa more in its and as and of for and with and the COVID-19 The use and on from in of the health The that in which the has their are more to a in to a in their that to have a positive on the in their also that social in which the has a of are more to the effects of the pandemic. that have experienced a or of the the a that reduce their on their social to and to the of the social for of is on and of in the in on in the in and and to the of to the in and the for the the COVID-19 pandemic and to the impact of on the of The that being a and the of a in those are a of a in to COVID-19. between and and with a the of to that to be more about the The that have a of their the the to the the of The the of and to help the most and to from the and of to on in the Member States COVID-19 using a a the of 2020 in the of the COVID-19 pandemic for on the of between and 2019 and 2020 of as well as the of the between countries. The for in total and from which the that of countries have total or of all while the other have total of all for being 2020 for and South Africa. The that most countries an of in of of through in and The are number of can be from the papers selected for this special issue of the African Development is a that the COVID-19 pandemic has African countries, collectively and as by the in and the in in and and the in to and so the and its to the or as the is highly and especially in a countries are to rising to African and so have a highly impact in of and human more the the of at the of the of the health crisis. the to from the on the and of governments to their and to the economic and and used are and are on that are it to come with However, it is to their so as not to the and in the it is to that most of the papers were by or more thus their individual and to on the of the We note that with or most and in Africa in an world in the to and at to getting or the are from the a world of physical distancing and in and is to their are their and their for the has for the of and have to to 3 to reduce on the is to the of new as and to the new There is an of as and are the of The is for is for for for are Also, with the of to to and other (including health and to African countries, with the rest of the are in the for the and on these and with new and and in all of the