Africa’s economic recovery will be costly – AfDB

AFRICA will need at least $432-billion to address the effects of Covid-19 on its economies and on the lives of Africans — resources it does not have.

This was according to African Development Bank (AfDB) president Dr Akinwumi Adesina who spoke during the release of the 2022 ‘African Economic Outlook’ report.

In the last year, Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) made a strong recovery, however, the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war could be medium-term challenges for the continent.

The continent’s GDP grew by an estimated 6.9% in 2021, following a pandemic-induced contraction of 1.6% in 2020.

The African Economic Outlook report noted that rising oil prices and global demand have generally helped improve Africa’s macroeconomic fundamentals, but warned that growth could decelerate to 4.1% in 2022, and remain there in 2023, owing to inflation pressures caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. Both countries are major grain suppliers to Africa.

The report warned that