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.


Radar

Coffee Exports Bring in 1.5B Br in Third Quarter

Ethiopia has earned 1.5 billion dollars from coffee exports over the nine months of the fiscal year. The country had set a target to earn a little over a billion dollars by exporting 201,959tns of coffee during the same period. According to Adugna Debella (PhD), director general of the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority, the export strategy continues to focus on major international markets, with the top 10 destinations, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the United States (SU), accounting...


Radar

Central Bank Holds Fourth Exchange Auction

The National Bank of Ethiopia(NBE) sold one dollar for 131.4961 birr in its recent auction. It was reported that 26 banks participated in this auction, which took place last week on Thursday. In a statement issued by the National Bank  following the auction, it was indicated that 70 million dollars was offered for the event. Subsequently, it was reported that 96 pc of the foreign exchange needs of the participating banks were met. In the previous auction, held 15 days ago, the bank had of...


Radar

City Registers 64,075 Births in Fiscal Year

The city has exceeded its birth registration target for the first nine months of the fiscal year, registering 64,075 children—71.15pc more than the set goal of 58,342. This success, with a registration coverage rate of 109.63pc, is largely attributed to the efficiency of the one-centre birth registration service system, which has been rolled out across health centres and courts. The total number of vital events registered, including births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths, reache...