NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By  Ban Ki-moon & Patrick Verkooijen

Africa is feeling the economic blow of COVID-19 before the impact of the disease itself. For while the continent of 1.2 billion people has registered fewer than 3% of the world’s coronavirus cases so far, the economic fallout has been severe.

Lockdowns, the collapse in oil and commodity prices and the breakdown of many supply chains are punching huge holes through national budgets. This in turn has limited the ability of governments to meet people’s immediate health and survival needs.

With a continent-wide recession looming and the UN predicting a “hunger pandemic” in the wake of the coronavirus, there are two ways in which the world can help right now: with data and with investments that strengthen Africa’s food security.

Photo courtesy of A’Melody Lee at World Bank.