AfDB Says Continent Lost $190b to COVID-19

Jun 26 , 2021

The African economy has lost over 190 billion dollars as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, said Akinwumi Adesina (PhD), president of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), during the AfDB's 2021 virtual annual meeting. The President further iterated that the pandemic has pushed 30 million Africans into extreme poverty while another 30 million could "fall into poverty by the end of 2021," although he added that the continent is showing signs of recovery, with GDP expected to grow 3.4pc in 2021. There have been almost 5.3 million cases of COVID-19 recorded across the continent so far, with the vast majority (1.9 million) stemming from South Africa. An estimated 140,000 Africans have lost their lives to the disease so far.