· Four East African economies have managed to report positive economic growth in 2020 in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic.
· According to United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca’s) latest report Economic and social impacts of Covid-19 in Eastern Africa, South Sudan leads with an estimated 4.1 percent GDP growth, followed by Ethiopia and Tanzania on 1.9 percent each and Kenya on 1 percent.
Four East African economies have managed to report positive economic growth in 2020 in spite of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca’s) latest report Economic and social impacts of Covid-19 in Eastern Africa, South Sudan leads with an estimated 4.1 percent GDP growth, followed by Ethiopia and Tanzania on 1.9 percent each and Kenya on 1 percent.
Mama Keita, the head of the Uneca sub-regional office for Eastern Africa however conceded that the region will witness a sharp drop in GDP growth from 6.6 percent in 2019 to 0.6 percent in 2020. The report based its analysis on the economic fallouts of Covid-19 in 14 countries within the sub-region including Burundi, Comoros, DR Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
The report pointed out that the impact of the pandemic on economic growth was widespread but uneven across the region.
The impact was more severe for countries dependent on tourism, the report pointed out. Tourist arrivals for instance in Seychelles and Kenya were down 94 per cent and 91 per cent respectively between August 2019 and August 2020. While Kenya received 162,000 tourist visitors in August 2019, the number had dwindled to just 14,000 by August this year.
The report added that eastern Africa has been one of the least affected on the continent from a direct pandemic perspective partly attributed to the adoption of early and strict containment measures to mitigate the spread of the pandemic, low rate of testing, and a relatively youthful population. Most countries in the region reported a lower number of infection and death rates far below the continental average. However, its labour market has been the worst hit on the continent, with an estimated 38 million job losses.
Uneca report highlighted the long-term social and economic impact including a fall in years of schooling, poor nutrition for lack of school lunches, higher exposure to violence and exploitation, childhood pregnancies, and increased challenges to the mental development of children. According to the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the region stood at 258,514 with 5,011 dead by last week.
The report urged the policymakers in Africa to encourage digitization of trade as the pandemic has “highlighted the importance of the digital economy and the challenge of the digital divide.”
