The new Corona virus has killed 1,000 people in Africa since it first appeared in December.
According to official figures, the French Press Agency stated that Algeria is the African country that recorded the highest number of deaths with 364 cases, followed by Egypt 205 cases, Morocco 135 and South Africa 50, while African countries recorded a total of 19343 injuries.
It seems that Africa is currently less affected by the epidemic than the rest of the world, but experts call for caution because the true size of the virus outbreak may be greater, especially because of the lack of tests.
On the other hand, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank estimated that Africa still needs 44 billion$ to combat the epidemic, despite the suspension of debt servicing by many of its countries and large pledges of support.
According to a joint statement with African leaders, the two international institutions and other official creditors allocated 57 billion$ to support health systems and economic recovery plans in Africa for 2020, while the private sector provided 13 billion$ .
“It is an important beginning, but the needs of the continent in 2020 are estimated at 114 billion$ in the context of combating “Covid 19”, which leaves a funding gap estimated at 44 billion$ .
Experts fear that the weak health systems in the brown continent will not be able to stop the spread of the “Covid 19” disease, while declining demand for minerals, tourism and closure measures will deal painful blows to the economies of their countries.
The International Monetary Fund expects Africa’s GDP to shrink by 1.6 percent in 2020 in the worst result ever recorded, while the World Bank has warned that the region may slip into its first recession in 25 years
Source : Sana
