African economies facing the Covid-19 pandemic
Are the riots in Senegal the first manifestation of a new popular despair?
© Zohra Bensemra / REUTERS
By: Jean-Pierre Boris Follow
11 mins
The global economy is trying somehow to restart despite the persistence of the coronavirus pandemic. The Chinese economy has picked up again, the American will benefit from a huge stimulus plan, Europeans should experience a solid rebound if they manage to put down the virus. And Africa? And the African economies?
Publicity
In 2020, the huge African continent experienced the throes of recession for the first time in 25 years.
But in 2021?
What is going on ?
What's going to happen ?
Is the progress made lost?
Are the tourists coming back?
Will commodity prices recover sustainably, industrialization continue?
Are the riots in Senegal the first manifestation of a new popular despair?
To try to see more clearly, to answer these questions, three guests:
Yambayé Ngueto
, former Minister of the Economy and Planning of Chad and today, Director General of
the African Guarantee and Economic Cooperation Fund.
(FAGACE)
Cherif Salif Sy,
professor of economics and consultant, former minister.
Grégoire Rota-Graziosi,
Director of the Center for Studies and Research on International Development (Cerdi) at the University of Clermont Auvergne, Professor of Economics and specialist, in particular, in fiscal matters with the IMF.
► The increase in unemployment is one of the consequences of the pandemic, in Africa as elsewhere.
This is also the case in Senegal.
In 2020, the country recorded a growth rate of 0.7%, instead of the 6.8% expected before the health crisis.
Among the sectors most affected: tourism and hotels.
In Dakar, the King Fahd Palace hotel is considered a flagship.
But since the start of the pandemic in the country, more than a year ago, the upscale establishment, which usually welcomes a business clientele, has been virtually empty.
79 employees - out of a total of 310 - have just been made redundant.
Listen to this report
Eco from here Eco from elsewhere
, by Charlotte Idrac in Dakar.
REP ECO D'ICI / Senegal: impact of Covid King Fahd palace
► The situation on the raw materials front risks further weakening Sudan where inflation has already pushed a large part of the 45 million inhabitants into extreme poverty.
The population suffers from repeated shortages and the country has to import many of its staple foods.
One of the country's difficulties is controlling its exchange rate.
Until February 21, 2021, there was the official exchange rate and that of the black market.
The government has adopted a floating exchange rate, which is tantamount to devaluing the Sudanese pound by matching its value to that of the black market.
The IMF and the World Bank have welcomed the move, but the devaluation also poses the risk of a short-term surge in imported food prices.
It's an
Eco
report
from here Eco from elsewhere
, by Elliott Brachet in Khartoum
REP ECO D'ICI / The damage caused by inflation in Khartoum
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Economy
Coronavirus
Africa
Economy Africa
On the same subject
Africa economy
For Cian, the French state must more support French companies in Africa
Africa economy
Mali: after a nightmarish year, the country wants to restart its cotton production
Covid-19: the health crisis caused South Africa's GDP to drop in 2020