The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced that $57 billion has been delivered to cushion Africa’s economy against the devastation that is coronavirus out of a total of $114 billion the continent needs to survive the global pandemic.
According to Kristalina Georgieva, current director of the fund, COVID-19 has turned the world upside down, causing tragic loss of life and disrupting our social and economic order.
“As you will have seen from our World Economic Outlook, we anticipate the worst global downturn since the Great Depression.”
“For Africa, we project an economic contraction of at least 1¼ percent this year—the worst reading on record. Already weak fiscal positions will further deteriorate at a time when it is imperative to deploy the fiscal policy to strengthen health systems and support vulnerable households and businesses. It is clear that without rapid and adequate international support, the crisis threatens to reverse the continent’s development gains and damage prospects for years to come.”
The IMF says it still has $44 billion in funding gap to make up for and are still counting on the international community to make funds available to help Africa meet her fiscal needs.
