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A full one-month shutdown in Africa would cost the continent about 2.5 percent of its annual GDP, equivalent to about $ 65.7 billion per month, a recently released report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Sunday revealed. Africa (ECA).
The recently released report entitled “COVID-19: Blocking Exit Strategies for Africa”, which indicates that at least 42 African countries applied partial or full blockades in their quest to reduce the pandemic, primarily proposed various exit strategies to African nations of COVID-19 following the imposition of blocks that helped suppress the virus but with devastating economic consequences.
UNECA also estimated that a one-month total blockade in Africa would cost the continent about 2.5 percent of its annual GDP, equivalent to approximately 65.7 billion US dollars per month, which is said to add to the external impact more COVID-19 on Africa on Lower Raw Material Prices and Investment Flows
The report, among other things, proposed seven exit strategies that provide sustainable, albeit reduced, economic activity.
The report sets out some of the exit strategies that are being proposed and tested around the world and describes the risks involved for African countries.
“With the blockades came serious challenges for the economies of Africa, including a drop in demand for products and services; lack of operating cash flow; reduction of opportunities to meet new clients; businesses were closed; problems with the change of commercial strategies and the offer of alternative products and services; a decrease in the production and productivity of workers for working at home; logistics and shipping of products; and difficulties in obtaining supplies of essential raw materials for production, ”the report reads.
The ECA also argued that one of the most delicate problems facing policy makers is the impact of COVID-19 blocks on food security.
On Sunday, the African Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC in Africa) said the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the African continent exceeded 61,165, as the death toll from the current pandemic of COVID-19 reached 2,239 as of Sunday night.
The seven COVID-19 blockade exit strategies for African countries include improving testing, blocking until preventive or curative drugs are developed, contact tracing and mass testing, immunity permits, gradual segmented reopening, adaptive activation and mitigation.
Gradual segmented reopening may be necessary in countries where containment has failed with additional measures to suppress the spread of the disease that is required where the virus is still spreading, the report said.
“The spread of the virus is still accelerating in many African countries by an average of 30 percent each week,” advises the report.
According to the report, active learning and data collection can help policymakers determine risks across the breadth of policy unknowns as they consider recommendations to ease blockages and move toward a “new normal”.
Furthermore, he urged African nations to learn from the experiences of other regions and their reopening experiments; and use the “overtime” offered by locks to quickly establish tests, treatment systems, preventive measures, and carefully design lockout exit strategies in collaboration with vulnerable communities and groups.
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