The African Development Bank slashed its forecast for economic growth on the continent due to the impact of the coronavirus and now sees gross domestic product contracting by at least 1.7 per cent this year, and double that if the pandemic continues into the second half of 2020.
That new projections released in a supplement to its Economic Outlook this week compared with a January growth forecast of 3.9 per cent. If the disease isn’t swiftly addressed, Africa faces a major humanitarian and public health disaster, according to the report.
The Abidjan, Ivory Coast-based multilateral lender expects a partial recovery to expansion of about 3 per cent next year. However, that won’t make up for an estimated cumulative loss to Africa’s GDP of $173.1 billion (Dh635.7bn) to $236.7bn for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, it said.
Tourism-dependent countries, oil exporters and other resource-intensive economies have been hardest hit.
The number of people living in extreme poverty on the continent could increase to 463 million because as many as 30 million jobs may be lost, according to the report. Still, the lender advises that to reopen economies “policy makers need to follow a phased and incremental approach that carefully evaluates the trade-offs between restarting economic activity too quickly and safeguarding the health of the population".
The only region on the continent expected to show economic growth this year is East Africa. Southern Africa will be the hardest hit, contracting as much as 6.6 per cent.
East Africa’s “growth is largely driven by strong public spending in infrastructure, rising domestic demand, the benefit of improved stability, new investment opportunities and incentives for industrial development", the AfDB said in a separate report published on Wednesday.
The AfDB is Africa’s biggest multilateral bank. In March, it sold a $3bn social bond to help countries in the region deal with the fallout from the coronavirus. It also launched a $10bn crisis-response facility.
How to help
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
How green is the expo nursery?
Some 400,000 shrubs and 13,000 trees in the on-site nursery
An additional 450,000 shrubs and 4,000 trees to be delivered in the months leading up to the expo
Ghaf, date palm, acacia arabica, acacia tortilis, vitex or sage, techoma and the salvadora are just some heat tolerant native plants in the nursery
Approximately 340 species of shrubs and trees selected for diverse landscape
The nursery team works exclusively with organic fertilisers and pesticides
All shrubs and trees supplied by Dubai Municipality
Most sourced from farms, nurseries across the country
Plants and trees are re-potted when they arrive at nursery to give them room to grow
Some mature trees are in open areas or planted within the expo site
Green waste is recycled as compost
Treated sewage effluent supplied by Dubai Municipality is used to meet the majority of the nursery’s irrigation needs
Construction workforce peaked at 40,000 workers
About 65,000 people have signed up to volunteer
Main themes of expo is ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ and three subthemes of opportunity, mobility and sustainability.
Expo 2020 Dubai to open in October 2020 and run for six months
