We know that the impact of coronavirus is being felt more by those living in developing countries than elsewhere. Vaccine rollout remains painfully unequal and financing to help with the recovery is still completely inadequate. At the same time, new data shows the extent of Africa‘s debt challenges and the urgency needed to fix it before it‘s too late. Here are six reasons why Africa’s debt crisis could be here to stay.
1. African countries‘ debt rose to US$625 billion...
Fiona Robertson
COVID-19 has laid bare a blatant double standard: the world’s wealthiest countries play by one set of rules and the world’s poorest countries by another. G20 governments have spent trillions to keep their economies afloat, while others have been left without the necessary support to weather the storm. The needs are immense. As many as 150 million people could be pushed into extreme poverty by 2021 and many countries are facing a cash crunch. However, the G20 has failed...
The World Bank predicts the greatest drop in remittances in recent history, with low-income developing countries set to receive US$110 billion less, due to COVID-19 in 2020.
Remittances, which are the cash flows sent home by migrant workers to help their families, are a huge source of finance for low- and-middle-income countries. Last year, these countries received 78% of the US$714 billion that were sent around the world. Global remittance flows were five times higher than official development assistance in...
Until now, the pace of Africa’s regional integration—where countries coordinate policies to achieve greater prosperity—has been sluggish. But after 2 years of rigorous negotiations, African leaders have adopted the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA). The agreement is huge. It means that goods, services, investment, skilled labour, and people will be able to move freely across the 54 countries on the continent, without the multiple checks and restrictions that exist today. If successfully implemented by 2020, the AfCFTA would...