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Seismic waves: Russia’s war in Ukraine is going to weaken the economies of 143 countries this year — that’s 86% of the world — driven by rising food and energy prices. Likening the war to “seismic waves” rolling over the global economy, the IMF lowered its global growth projections from an estimated 6.1% in 2021 to 3.6% in 2022 and 2023 (and 3.8% for sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, see chart below). This could lead to greater risk of violence from heightened economic tensions in...
Anne Paisley
Anne Paisley is ONE's Associate Editorial Director. Prior to joining ONE in 2019, she worked at Devex and the Center for American Progress. She holds an MA in International Policy from Georgetown University and a BA in International Affairs and Economics from George Washington University, both with honors.
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Breaking news (and norms): The IMF endorsed the creation of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust as a new mechanism to recycle its emergency pandemic-recovery funds, or Special Drawing Rights. This landmark innovation should enable low-income countries to access much-needed cash to help mitigate the economic impacts of COVID-19 (and now the war in Ukraine). But there’s a big “if”: Rich countries need to contribute SDRs to the trust. The IMF is hoping to raise at least $45 billion. African leaders have...
In the past few years, millions of dollars held in secret accounts abroad have been sent back to some African countries, thanks to tighter international money laundering laws and calls for repatriation of money stolen from public coffers. In 2020, for example, the United States and the self-governing island of Jersey in the English Channel agreed to repatriate more than $300 million to Nigeria, which Nigeria’s military dictator Sani Abacha allegedly stole in the 1990s. Although Abacha, who died in 1998, was...
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Bounce back bias: Low-income countries’ GDP would have been more than 5% higher in 2021 if they had been able to access vaccines at the same rates as high-income countries. The vaccination of one additional person out of every 100 would have boosted global GDP by 0.10%, according to modeling by the UNDP. While the COVID-19 vaccines have helped high-income countries economically, the growth outlook for low-income countries continues to trend downwards and is 10 times lower than that of upper-middle-income countries.
History...
Nearly 4 out of 10 Kenyans have been unable to pay rent since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report by the Kenya Institute of Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA). This is a more than five-fold increase from pre-pandemic figures, which showed that less than 1 in 10 Kenyans could not afford to pay rent on time.
A majority (60.8%) of households struggled with rent because of reduced incomes. One-quarter blame layoffs and business closures. More than one-third...
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Desperate need: South Sudan is experiencing the worst refugee crisis in Africa. Triggered by floods, famine, and political violence, 2 million people have been displaced and 2.3 million people are currently refugees. 8.9 million people are in “desperate need” of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, the $10 million in aid and 80,000 bags of rice intended for those who need it have instead been “looted” by political elites, according to a UN official. Rape and sexual violence are being used as “spoils...
African countries, which are still dealing with the pandemic’s economic effects, are now confronted with another economic shock from Russia’s war in Ukraine. Exports of wheat, fertilizer, and other agricultural products from Russia and Ukraine have been disrupted. This is driving up the prices of these commodities in African countries, making life for ordinary citizens, including farmers, a lot harder.
Russia’s war in Ukraine is severely impacting food security globally, and especially in many African countries that rely on wheat...
A roundup of the latest news, stats, and analysis of COVID-19’s impact in Africa. View our data tracker and sign up for our weekly newsletter. This week, war in Ethiopia has killed an estimated half a million people, global food aid supplies dwindle, Russia seeks to counter NATO through African alliances, and a provisional TRIPs deal has entered the chat.
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Knocking on famine’s door: Half a million people have died in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia since the war started...
Over 10 million South Africans receive about R350 ($24) per month as part of the Social Relief of Distress (SRD) grant, which aims to support those impacted most by COVID-19. The programme started in April 2020 and is scheduled to end in March 2022.
Mapi Mhlangu, a Bloomberg journalist, spoke to Totsie Memela Khambula, the CEO of the South African Social Services Agency (SASSA), about how the agency administered this grant, as well as the challenges, successes, and lessons of...
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Looming food crisis: Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing daily human tragedy inside the country. Experts warn that the war could soon have devastating impacts in far away places due to rising food prices and shortages. The World Food Programme, which gets half of the wheat it distributes in humanitarian crises from Ukraine, may need to find other suppliers. 44 million people globally are on the brink of famine and an additional 232 million are just one step behind. And...