By Daniel D. Bradlow PRETORIA – COVID-19 is creating Sub-Saharan Africa’s worst social and economic crisis since World War II. The region’s economy is set to contract by 1.6% in 2020, its worst performance on record. Global merchandise trade could shrink by 13-32% this year, which will hit Africa hard. And the World Health Organization […]
By Mitali Das, Şebnem Kalemli-Özcan, Damien Puy, and Liliana Varela WASHINGTON, DC/LONDON – Stark warnings about the COVID-19 shock’s potentially devastating effects on emerging markets (EMs) have become ubiquitous. With the pandemic engulfing ever more countries, EMs face a mass exit by foreign investors seeking safe assets. As a result, capital outflows and currency depreciations […]
By Josh Lipsky and Jeremy Mark WASHINGTON, DC – Even before COVID-19 began its deadly spread across their borders, developing countries were absorbing severe economic shockwaves emanating from China and advanced economies. And now, in addition to tumbling commodity prices and plummeting export demand, they face a sharp drop in remittances from émigrés and expatriates, […]
By Carmen M. Reinhart and Rob Subbaraman PETERSBURG/SINGAPORE – Even before the pandemic, there were signs that global food prices could soon surge. Extreme weather events induced by climate change have become more common. African swine fever wiped out over one-quarter of the world’s pig population last year, causing food prices in China to increase […]
By Mariana Mazzucato and Giulio Quaggiotto LONDON – Decades of privatization, outsourcing, and budget cuts in the name of “efficiency” have significantly hampered many governments’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis. At the same time, successful responses by other governments have shown that investments in core public-sector capabilities make all the difference in times of emergency. […]
The pound – this month’s worst-performing major currency – could “easily drop to $1.18” at the end of June, warns the CEO of one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and fintech organisations. The warnings from deVere Group’s chief executive and founder Nigel Green come as it is revealed that the British currency shed […]
By Benjamin J. Cohen SANTA BARBARA – With the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, the United States seems to have developed a severe case of what psychologists call dissociative identity disorder: it is simultaneously projecting two distinct personalities. On the one hand, the US Federal Reserve has responsibly assumed a leadership role in international finance, […]
By Carmen M. Reinhart and Rob Subbaraman PETERSBURG/SINGAPORE – Even before the pandemic, there were signs that global food prices could soon surge. Extreme weather events induced by climate change have become more common. African swine fever wiped out over one-quarter of the world’s pig population last year, causing food prices in China to increase […]
By John Prendergast WASHINGTON, DC – COVID-19 is a ticking time bomb in Africa. Some of the risks are widely documented. Health-care systems are weak and overburdened, with ten African countries reportedly having no ventilators at all. Food supplies are unstable, and have already suffered major disruptions. And over 18 million people are refugees or […]
The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank has approved a $13.7 million grant to finance the COVID-19 response in Zimbabwe. The funds will provide an immediate lifeline for targeted frontline responders and health personnel and boost the country’s Global Health Security Index in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Approval for the grant was made […]
By Enric Sala WASHINGTON, DC – The Seychelles, a string of 115 verdant, rocky islands in the Indian Ocean, recently announced – in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic – that it would protect 30% of its glittering turquoise waters from commercial use. Safeguarding some 410,000 square kilometers (158,000 square miles) of the sea will […]
Agriculture contributes 65 per cent of Africa’s employment and 75 per cent of its domestic trade ROME, Italy, May 14, 2020/ — By Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe, former Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia Africa has so far escaped the worst health […]
By Mauricio Cárdenas BOGOTÁ – Many are calling for a temporary moratorium on all debt repayments by developing and emerging economies, in order to prevent the COVID-19 pandemic from triggering a tsunami of sovereign defaults. Rather than waiting passively until debtors stop meeting their obligations, the argument goes, creditors would be better off agreeing now […]