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IMF projects a recession for sub-Saharan Africa in 2020

Published 14/04/2020, 13:30
Updated 14/04/2020, 13:36

JOHANNESBURG, April 14 (Reuters) - Sub-Saharan Africa's
gross domestic product is expected to contract 1.6% this year,
compared 3.1% growth last year, as the coronavirus pandemic
wrecks the region's economies, the International Monetary Fund
said on Tuesday .
Various African governments have imposed lockdowns and
curfews to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but the
restrictions are putting pressure on most economies -- some of
which were already in recession.
The IMF said in its World Economic Outlook that GDP was
projected to fall sharply in South Africa, the continent's most
advanced economy. The country's GDP is projected to contract
5.8% in 2020 from growth of 0.2% in 2019.
South Africa entered a recession in the final quarter of
last year as power cuts by state utility Eskom took a toll on
the economy, while public finances were strained by bailouts to
struggling state firms.
The country imposed some of the toughest restrictions on the
continent to contain the coronavirus, including a five-week
lockdown to the end of April. With production and spending
curtailed, the economic outlook was set to remain grim.
The IMF also projected significant economic contractions in
oil-exporting countries, with Nigeria's GDP forecast to fall
3.4% this year after growing 2.2% in 2019. Angola's economy was
expected to remain in recession, contracting 1.4% in 2020.
The IMF and the World Bank - which has also projected a
recession for sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 - are racing to provide
emergency funds to African countries and others to combat the
coronavirus and mitigate the impact of sweeping shutdowns aiming
at curbing its spread.

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