(3 minutes read)
· As more and more countries have started reporting on
incidence of COVID-19, Africa has upped its vigil to fight against the
contagion
· Some countries have assessed the economic impact of the
affliction. For instance, South Africa extensively outlined the
economic impact of the pandemic on the economy – mining, tourism.
As more and more countries have started reporting on incidence of
COVID-19, Africa has upped its vigil to fight against the contagion.
Though the intensity of the pandemic is less in the continent as
compared to Europe, Asia and parts of the Americas, where lockdowns
are in place, the effort in the continent is to focus on the
pre-emptive measures since the healthcare system is fragile and in
some countries, it is totally inadequate to stem the rapid spread of
the virus.
Most of the African countries have imposed control on gathering of the
people, the most fertile ground for the contagion. As a result, a
number of business conferences were cancelled or postponed to infinite
period. The governments are insisting on video conferences to avoid
any direct personal contacts. To tackle the menace in a war footing, a
number of governments have also declared State of Emergencies. Some
countries have assessed the economic impact of the affliction. For
instance, South Africa extensively outlined the economic impact of the
pandemic on the economy – mining, tourism. Nigeria is revising its
Budget 2020 passed recently in view of the impact of the virus on the
oil prices, which have been falling since 2016. www.trendsnafrica.com
has been bringing such news to our esteemed readers regularly.
Some of the other likely impact of present predicament included
telecom companies reviewing tariff, banks scrutinizing how many loans
would turn bad and how monetary policies can be tuned to address the
low pick up of the econonmy, steps to control availability of
essential goods including life saving medicines, suspension of both
domestic and international flights due to lack of passengers, which
would reflect badly on the airlines’ bottom lines etc
Experts say the coming a few weeks would be crucial since further
steps would depend on the intensity and range of the spread.
