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COVID-19: Nigeria, others lose $4.2bn to capital outflow –IMF
Capital outflow of more than $4.2bn has been lost by Nigeria and some other sub-Saharan Africa countries since the end of February as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.
The IMF gave the revelation in its latest Regional Economic Outlook for the region on Wednesday, noting other countries affected as South Africa, Zambia, Namibia, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Cote d’ivoire.
It said the outflow resulted from spill-overs from a swiftly deteriorating external environment, which had worsened the economic hardships confronting nations in the region.
The report observed that slowing growth among major trading partners of several countries in sub-Saharan Africa has reduced external demand.
It forecast that growth in the region’s trading partners would fall by six percentage points this year because of global economic downtrend caused by the coronavirus outbreak.
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The Fund said ‘tightening global financial conditions’ was disrupting investment flow while increasing external pressures.
According to the document, steep fall in commodity prices, especially oil, had worsened challenges in a couple of the region’s biggest, resource-intensive economies like Nigeria and Angola.
The report anticipated that sub-Saharan Africa’s economy will contract by 1.6% in 2020 and that real per capita income would drop by over 3.9% on average.
“The crisis threatens to reverse recent development progress across the region and may weigh on growth for years to come,” it said.
It put the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in 43 countries in the region as of 13th April at over 7,800 with South Africa, Cameroon and Burkina Faso worst affected.
“The rapid spread of the virus, if left unchecked, threatens to overwhelm weak healthcare systems and exact a large humanitarian toll.”
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