(2 minute read)
· The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa ( ECA),
hosted a a virtual conference of finance ministers recently to
assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on economies across the
continent.
· South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa admitted that his
country’s economy, especially in the area of mining and tourism was
badly hit by COVID-19.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa ( ECA), hosted a a
virtual conference of finance ministers recently to assess the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic on economies across the continent.
The virtual meeting , which lasted two hours was co- chaired by two
Finance Ministers; Ghana’s Ken Ofori-Atta and South Africa’s Toto
Mboweni.
The ECA, which is headquartered in the Ethiopian capital-Addis Ababa-
cancelled a scheduled conference of ministers last month at a time
that the pandemic was at the stage of an epidemic and was arriving in
Africa. As on March 19, Africa has over 630 confirmed cases with 16
deaths across 34 African countries. The numbers may continue to rise
going by the present trend. Governments are implementing a range of
restrictions including closing of borders and imposing strict public
guidelines.
South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa admitted that his country’s
economy, especially in the area of mining and tourism was badly hit by
COVID-19. Ghana’s finance minister told parliament recently that it
needed US $100 million for combating coronavirus, for which it has to
tap international lenders to raise part of the money.
Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria, had allocated an estimated
US$ 34.6 billion outlay for this year- 2020, which is likely to be
revised downwards, according to the Ministry of Finance, due to the
sharp drop in the price of crude oil, which is also related to the
coronavirus pandemic. The proposed revised figure will be 1.5 trillion
naira (about US$5 billion) less the original figure.
The 2020 budget was worked out assuming crude oil production of 2.18
million barrels per day at a price of US$57 per barrel, which is now
plummeted to below US$ 30 per barrel. Other finance ministers
participated at the virtual meeting included that of Ghana, South
Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and Kenya, which have expressed their
concerns on various segments of the economy, such as fall in revenue
from the telecom sector, revenue loss due to cancellation of trade
fairs and other revenue generating events, disruptions in air
services, decline in export of minerals, metals and agricultural
products and the like.
