Ethiopia has asked for 1.6 billion dollars of emergency funding from the Development Assistance Group (DAG), a consortium of 30 bilateral nations and multilateral agencies supporting the country, to aid people that will be impacted in the event of a widespread Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Ministry of Finance filed the proposal to DAG early last week, stating that the funds will be used for three months to execute the emergency response plan the government drafted with the United Nations (UN). If the virus breaks out significantly in Ethiopia, the plan indicates that an estimated 10 million people will require emergency assistance.

The largest fund, accounting for 635 million dollars, will be used to serve food to 15 million people. For the provision of health services for 39 million people, the country requires 430 million dollars. Ethiopia will also need 282 million dollars to provide shelter and non-food items for 2.5 million people, according to the emergency response plan.

The 60-page document, dubbed the COVID-19 Multi-Sectoral Preparedness & Response Plan, consists of a far-reaching response plan on agriculture, education, shelter, food, health, nutrition, water, sanitation and care for refugees. It also includes cross-cutting coordination and management strategies for three possible stages of increasing intensity.

“The pandemic couldn't have come at a worse time - just as the country is undergoing major macroeconomic reform,” said Eyob Tekalign (PhD), state minister for Finance, which has allocated five billion Birr for the prevention of the pandemic and 19 billion Br for the worst-case scenario.

The World Bank has estimated that, at a minimum, the economy will slow down significantly in the last quarter of the current fiscal year and remain slower than the pre-COVID-19 scenario in the next fiscal year with an expected recovery to commence in the second quarter of 2021.

With many uncertainties in global markets, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has fallen by a third, potentially leading to an external financing gap of over two billion dollars. From March to June, exports are expected to fall by 30pc this year compared to last year. Remittances, which make up six percent of the country's GDP, are expected to drop by at least 40pc between February and June or 75pc in the worst-case scenario.

At a preliminary status, the Job Creation Commission projects that in the next three months, 1.4 million jobs will be under threat. Urban, self-employed residents in the service sector are expected to lose 265 million dollars in income.

As of the end of the last week, 69 cases have been confirmed in the country, with three fatalities and 10 recoveries. In the coming three months, the government expects 102,000 confirmed cases, according to the response plan.

With the projected need, Ethiopia should have 300 isolation centres with 200 beds each, 34 treatment centres with 400 beds each and 100 quarantine centres with 500 beds each. It should also expand the testing capacity to 19 sites throughout the country, including both referral and teaching hospitals. The procurement of 300 ambulances with 300 sprayers and 600 nurses working in the ambulances is also required.